[Ads-l] Members of the ADS-L Community and the OED

[Shapiro, Fred]

When I first became obsessed with antedating the OED, I had to frequent the largest libraries because the way to do antedating was to randomly skim old books or journals or do focused research for particular terms.  So I hung out at the two great libraries I had access to, the Harvard University Library and the New York Public Library.  One day, while I was sitting at a table at NYPL with about 10 very big volumes of the OED scattered around me (antedating back them could be physically very cumbersome), an elderly gentleman approached me and asked why I had so many volumes of the OED scattered around me.  That was David Shulman.

Shulman became something of a mentor for me and, I believe, for Barry Popik as well.  He boasted that he was actually paid money by the OED.  I looked up his articles in American Speech.  He told me that he had been a cryptographer and had donated his fine collection of books on cryptography to NYPL.  He was never a participant in ADS-L.  The fact that the OED is still listing him as a significant contributor two decades after his death says something.

Fred Shapiro



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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Bill Mullins <amcombill at HOTMAIL.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, September 5, 2023 3:47 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Fw: Members of the ADS-L Community and the OED



I see David Shulman's name listed as well.  Was he a member?  I understand he passed away not too long before I became active on the list (2005 or so).  At any rate, I recall his name and contributions used to get mentioned regularly.


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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Monday, September 4, 2023 10:19 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Members of the ADS-L Community and the OED

Thanks for the heads-up, Fred. Here's a link to the relevant page on the
OED site:



On Mon, Sep 4, 2023 at 7:32 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:

> I see that another ADS-L community member who is mentioned is Michael
> Quinion.
>
> ________________________________
> From: Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
> Sent: Monday, September 4, 2023 7:28 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Members of the ADS-L Community and the OED
>
> While looking at the online material about the OED in its new website, I
> notice that four present or past members of the ADS-L community are
> mentioned as significant contributors: Bill Mullins, Barry Popik, Ben
> Zimmer, and myself.
>



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