[Ads-l] Antedating of "Tennis" (Modern Game)

Ben Zimmer bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM
Mon Jan 1 15:30:26 UTC 2024


Worth noting that the advertisement makes it clear the sport in question is
lawn tennis (a recent innovation at the time -- OED2 1874), rather than the
earlier game known as "tennis" that now goes by the retronym "real tennis."

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ilfracombe-chronicle-etc-single-ga/137816442/

On Mon, Jan 1, 2024 at 9:36 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:

> tennis (OED, 2.a., 1878)
>
> 1877 _Ilfracombe Chronicle_ 25 Aug. 4/1 (Newspapers.com)
>
> Single Game at Tennis 6d.
>
>

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