[Ads-l] Antedating "mammoth" (big) - 1801 (was "big cheese" 1815)

Mon May 29 23:33:44 UTC 2023

That 1706 usage was in reference to the animal, not a generic term for "big."

-----Original Message-----
From: "dave at wilton.net" <dave at WILTON.NET>
Sent: Monday, May 29, 2023 7:07pm
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Antedating "mammoth" (big) - 1801 (was "big cheese" 1815)

"Mammuth" dates to 1706.

[ https://www.wordorigins.org/big-list-entries/mammoth ]( https://www.wordorigins.org/big-list-entries/mammoth ) 

-----Original Message-----
From: "Peter Reitan" <pjreitan at HOTMAIL.COM>
Sent: Monday, May 29, 2023 5:09pm
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: [ADS-L] Antedating "mammoth" (big) - 1801 (was "big cheese" 1815)

The word “mammoth,” in the sense of being something large, is said to be American, earliest known use in that sense 1802, in reference to a large cheese presented to President Jefferson, which was generally referred to as the “mammoth cheese.”

https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=mammoth

Slight antedating – August 17, 1801, in a headline of an article about the plans to make and send the large cheese to Jefferson. It was made in Cheshire, Massachusetts, supposedly in imitation of large cheeses made in Cheshire, England, for the King of England.

[Begin Excerpt]
Providence, August 10. The Mammoth Cheese. It will be readily recollected, that the inhabitants of Cheshire, in England, to evince their loyalty to their Sovereign, soon after his recovery from his indisposition, some years since, presented him with a Cheese weighing upwards of a ton weight, which was exhibited at the levee. – The inhabitants of the enlightened and truly republican town of Cheshire, in Massachusetts, in imitation of so loyal an example, have lately attempted a present to The President of the United states; which is to be sent him in 1802.
[End Excerpt]

Hartford Courant (Hartford, Connecticut), August 17, 1801, page 3.

Interestingly, Thomas Jefferson had a connection to Mammoths, having described them in his history of Virginia a couple decades earlier.

The big cheese given to President Jackson (another Democrat) in 1829, was made in the same county of Massachusetts as the one from 1801/1802. A second “big cheese” was given to President Jackson in 1835, and famously distributed to White House visitors in 1837. Reports of Jackson’s cheeses generally referred to them as “big cheese,” with some references using “mammoth cheese.” “Mammoth cheese” was used on occasion as a reference point in describing other large things.

Reports suggest Jefferson paid for his cheese, and served it as Fourth of July ceremonies in 1802 and 1803, and perhaps some other occasions.

https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/mammoth-cheese/

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From: Jonathan Lighter<mailto:wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Monday, May 29, 2023 12:52 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: "big cheese" 1815

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Subject: Re: "big cheese" 1815
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FWIW, big cheeses were sometimes a big deal.

1802 The Wasp (Hudson, N.Y.) (July 31) 2: The following Toast, drank [sic]
by the Cheshire folks, who made the big Cheese [sic] for Mr.
Jefferson....May the splendour of the Republican SUN continue to eclipse
the twinklings of the Western Lightning Bug.

1828 Poulson's American Daily Advertiser (Phila.) (Nov. 14, 1828) 3: "A BIG
CHEESE. The Berkshire American states that Mr. Israel Cole, of North Adams,
has made a "hundred pound cheese to be presented to Jackson in case he was
elected President."

1885 Buffalo [N.Y.] Evening News (Nov. 7) 4: "FREE SHOW!" The Two Big
Cheese [sic] CITY OF BUFFALO, 3398 lbs., VILLAGE OF AURORA 3394 lbs., Are
now on exhibition at our store.

JL

On Mon, May 29, 2023 at 2:14=E2=80=AFPM Steven Losie <stevenlosie at gmail.com=
> wrote:

> In case nobody has seen it, Green's Dictionary of Slang cites an 1885
> newspaper article in New Zealand for "big cheese":
>
> [begin quote]
> What attraction is there for Ken at the manager=E2=80=99s? Is it to see t=
hat big
> cheese?
> [end quote]
> Source: Observer and Freelance (Wellington, NZ) 5 Sept. 1885 p.4/2
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

--=20
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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