[Ads-l] "border state"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Yes, I have heard "border state" applied to states of the U.S. on the
Mexican border for years. Here is a 1911 citation with the pertinent
sense for Texas:

Date: February 15, 1911
Newspaper: Waco Semi-Weekly Tribune
Newspaper Location: Waco, Texas
Article: GOV. COLQUITT IS RIGHT
Quote Page 4, Column 1
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
The United States and Mexico are at peace with each other. There are
solemn treaties made between the governments of the two countries. It
was with the Diaz government that those treaties were made. Texas is a
border state and many of the inhabitants of Texas are Mexicans--by
race, language and sympathy.
[End excerpt]

Here is a 1914 citation with the pertinent sense for Arizona:

Date: June 27, 1914
Newspaper: The Tucson Citizen
Newspaper Location: Tucson, Arizona
Article: Proposal To Muster Out Arizona Guard Is Unjust
Quote Page 4, Column 6
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
Arizona is a border state and needs the protection of the entire
regiment as well as the money properly due us.
[End excerpt]

I only looked in Newpapers.com, and I employed a very narrow search;
hence, earlier citations are likely.
Garson

On Sun, Aug 11, 2024 at 6:07 AM dave at wilton.net <dave at wilton.net> wrote:
>
>
> The Corpus of Contemporary American English has many examples going back to 1994.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "James Landau" <00000c13e57d49b8-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Saturday, August 10, 2024 9:33pm
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: [ADS-L] "border state"
>
>
>
> (My apologies if I sound political)
> In my experience "border state" has meant a US state (like my native Kentuicky) which is part Sourthern and part Northern (e.g. Kentucky declared itself neutral in the Civil War).
> However, tonight I saw a TV commercial for Harris that started out "As a border-state prosecutor, she..." followed by complimentary words about what she did re Mexican border issues.
> Has anyone else run across this meaning?  Is it original with this TV ad?
> James Landau
> jjjrlandau at netscape.com
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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