[Ads-l] Antedating of "Breakdancing"

[Ben Zimmer]

Oddly, the OED still lacks the earlier form "breakdance" (n.), as in this
cite that appears on the Wikipedia page for "breakdancing":

New York Daily News, Nov 12, 1980, p. M12, col. 1
Bill Adler, "Kurtis Blow: rapped up in success"
But it was in his secret identity as a B-boy (B for Beat) during
after-school hours that Kurtis [Blow] really shined. "I was the best dancer
at the school," he claimed. "When I was 15 I used to go down to Nell
Gwinn's and do that frantic Breakdance -- the fancy, fancy footwork to the
funky, funky music -- and I would have the crowd in the palm of my hand."

I see Bonnie just clipped this!
https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-breakdance-in-profile-of-k/141486077/

On Sun, Feb 18, 2024 at 8:12 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:

> breakdancing (OED 1982 Sept.)
>
> 1982 _Guardian_ 26 Mar. 12/8 (Newspapers.com)  To quote J. Walter Negro
> (as indeed Robert Elms does on his agreeably enthusiastic sleeve-notes),
> "graffiti art, break dancing, and rap music are the three art forms of the
> new urban tribes."
>
> NOTE: The reference is to sleeve-notes of an album titled "Genius of Rap"
> (Island).
>

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