[Ads-l] "Swiftie" for the OED

ADSGarson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Sat Feb 24 18:57:15 UTC 2024


As Fred and Bonnie noted, Swifty and Swiftie are ambiguous.
Here is an xtweet that uses "SWIFTIE" with the desired sense.
To simplify the search I only looked for the phrase "a swiftie";
hence, a wider search will probably find earlier instances.

https://x.com/mansypansy24/status/7568247977
Handle: Amanda @mansypansy24
Timestamp: 3:36 PM · Jan 9, 2010
[Begin xtweet]
A T T E N T I O N: To Taylor Swift Fan go and F O L L O W this awesome
Taylor Swift Fan @TheTaySwiftFan !!!!You should if you are a SWIFTIE!
[End xtweet]

Garson

On Sat, Feb 24, 2024 at 10:21 AM Bonnie Taylor-Blake
<b.taylorblake at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> "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
> >
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


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