[Ads-l] "Swiftie" for the OED

[Bonnie Taylor-Blake]

"Swiftie" is showing up on Twitter (now X) as early as 2010.

For example,

"Speak Now went platinum and sold 1,004, 447 in ONE week. That's
unbelievable. I am a Swiftie and I am #ProudOfSwift ." (3 November 2010,
https://x.com/AdmiringSwift/status/29626920116?s=20)

One might find still-earlier appearances on Twitter and other social media
platforms. (Beware of instances of Taylor Swift herself being referred to
as "Swiftie," however.)

-- Bonnie

On Sat, Feb 24, 2024 at 8:51 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:

ProQuest search results seem to imply that "Swiftie" appears in a Ph.D.
> dissertation (Ohio State University, 2011) by Mary Thomas, titled
> "Distinctly digital: Subjectivity and Recognition in Teenage Girls' Online
> Self-Presentations"; and in a New York Post article, Aug. 2, 2012.  But in
> both cases, ProQuest does not give the full text of the document.  Without
> seeing the full text, we cannot be sure that "Swiftie" is used in these
> sources to mean a fan of Taylor Swift, it could be used as a nickname for
> TS herself.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> Sent: Saturday, February 24, 2024 8:32 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: "Swiftie" for the OED
>
> It seems inevitable that the term "Swiftie" will eventually make its way
> into the OED.  The earliest occurrence on LexisNexis is a broadcast
> transcript, quoting Taylor Swift herself from TV Eyes - ITV1London, 6 Oct.
> 2012.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>

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