[Ads-l] Antedating of "Mulligan"

Mon Nov 27 15:45:45 UTC 2023

I now see that the 1918 Ogden article I found is clearly not about do-overs in golf.

I have to note that I don't see any likely semantic connection between golf do-overs and Swats Mulligan.

Fred Shapiro

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Peter Reitan <pjreitan at HOTMAIL.COM>
Sent: Sunday, November 26, 2023 8:20 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Antedating of "Mulligan"

I don't recall clipping the Ogden article from 1918. The original article was published earlier than my clipping date, and I apparently never updated it.

It is possible that I did not update it because I did not even discover the original 1919 Colorado Springs citation, which was credited to Samuel Clements on ADS-L.

Also, those early examples are likely not used in the modern sense of an extra swing, but in an earlier sense, influenced by a fictional baseball player, of taking a hard swing.

There were even earlier examples using the character's full name "Swat Mulligan", to describe players who were heavy hitters. (I believe the original name was actually Swat Milligan, but in common usage it was frequently spelled as the more familiar name, Mulligan).

Heinie Zimmerman was the New York Giants’ leading “Swat Mulligan” in 1917:

Leading the Polo Ground Swat Mulligans is Heinie Zimmerman, with an average of .310.

The World (New York), July 10, 1917, page 10.

And examples from the same period relating to golfers.  Dave Herron was a “Swat Mulligan of the links” in Philadelphia in 1919:

[Woody Platt], a newcomer to tournament golf, failed to get his strokes working in good shape against the long hitting Herron, who is a real Swat Mulligan of the links.

The Evening World (New York), August 22, 1919, page 2.

It is still not clear how, when or even whether that usage transitioned to mean an extra shot in golf.  It did seem like an interesting coincidence that early, unambiguous examples of a "mulligan" as an extra golf shot were in reports of professional baseball players playing golf.

I addressed several of the popular theories in a post.

https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fesnpc.blogspot.com%2F2017%2F05%2Fhey-mulligan-man-second-shot-at-history.html&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C12272921b0cc427b24ca08dbeee723d1%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638366448741534282%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=eD5ukRaqmqHGFC4q5wyKBy%2B5mDXwNDjExWplCOH%2BCYU%3D&reserved=0<https://esnpc.blogspot.com/2017/05/hey-mulligan-man-second-shot-at-history.html>
________________________________
From: ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 26, 2023 12:59 PM
To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at listserv.uga.edu>
Subject: Re: Antedating of "Mulligan"

Dave Wilton
> The 1919 Colorado Springs citation that Peter Reitan found is a reprint of
> the 1918 Ogden article that Fred has just found.

Exactly. Peter found both citations by 2017.
Both citations point to the article titled "Why Our Baseball Is Better
Than British Cricket" by J. B. Sheridan.

"The Colorado Springs Gazette" citation is dated April 19, 1919. It is
available via GenealogyBank. Peter mentioned this citation in his
article about "mulligan".

"The Ogden Standard" citation is dated October 12, 1918. It is
available via Newspapers.com. Peter clipped it on May 3, 2017. Fred
rediscovered this citation and shared it with list members today.

The oddity is that Peter only mentioned the 1919 citation and not the
1918 citation in his "mulligan" article even though he has known about
both citations since 2017. The simplest explanation is that he has not
yet updated the "mulligan" article.

This is not a criticism of Peter or anybody else. There are multiple
Quote Investigator articles which I have not yet updated despite the
fact that I have germane information to add.

Garson

> -----Original Message-----
> From: "ADSGarson O'Toole" <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Sunday, November 26, 2023 2:06pm
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Antedating of "Mulligan"
>
>
>
> That is an intriguing citation. Back in 2017 Peter Reitan clipped that
> citation in "The Ogden Standard":
>
> https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers.com%2Farticle%2Fthe-ogden-standard%2F10716202%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C12272921b0cc427b24ca08dbeee723d1%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638366448741534282%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=OBiWwaOAadVp5DIHZOGerYKS57yUvuSRsjL2gXWSwDE%3D&reserved=0<https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ogden-standard/10716202/>
>
> Peter's article about "mulligan" contains a pertinent analysis which
> suggests that "this early 'mulligan' referred to taking a big swing at
> the ball":
>
> https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fesnpc.blogspot.com%2F2017%2F05%2Fhey-mulligan-man-second-shot-at-history.html&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C12272921b0cc427b24ca08dbeee723d1%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638366448741534282%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=eD5ukRaqmqHGFC4q5wyKBy%2B5mDXwNDjExWplCOH%2BCYU%3D&reserved=0<https://esnpc.blogspot.com/2017/05/hey-mulligan-man-second-shot-at-history.html>
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> As early as 1919, a cricketer, using language very similar to the
> golfing sense, might "take a 'mulligan' at" the ball. In context, it
> appears that this early "mulligan" referred to taking a big swing at
> the ball – the kind of swing "Swat Mulligan" might take:
>
> If it is a bad ball, "off the wicket," he may take a "mulligan" at it
> and knock it over the fence, "out of bounds" they call it.
>
> The Colorado Springs Gazette, April 19, 1919, page 12.
>
> This is the only example of "mulligan" in this form that I or anyone
> else has found. But there are numerous references using the full
> name, "Swat Mulligan," to describe a big hitter in baseball or golf.
> [End excerpt]
>
> I am not sure why Peter refers to the year 1919. Perhaps the article
> should be updated to say 1918 based on the citation in “The Ogden
> Standard”.
>
> Garson O'Toole
>
> On Sun, Nov 26, 2023 at 1:19 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:
> >
> > mulligan (OED, n.2, 1936)
> >
> > 1918 _Ogden_ (Utah) _Standard_ 12 Oct. 17/3 (Newspapers.com)
> >
> > If it is a bad ball, "off the wicket," he may take a "mulligan" at it and knock it over the fence, "out of bounds" they call it.
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
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