[Ads-l] Etymology of Flack

[Shapiro, Fred]

The case for Gene Flack is based on a 1939 article in the magazine Better English, which stated that Flack "is said to" have originated in Variety derived from Gene Flack's name (the Better English article also mentions a possible Yiddish derivation).  My discoveries of 1933 uses in Variety make the 1939 article more distant from the origination and thus less authoritative.

I do not think that the 1933 discoveries make the Gene Flack theory unviable.  If the 1939 article was based on information from Variety itself, that would carry weight.

Fred Shapiro


________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Baker, John <000014a9c79c3f97-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Monday, January 15, 2024 3:11 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Etymology of Flack

Fred, do you still see the derivation from the name of Gene Flack as viable?


John Baker


From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> On Behalf Of Shapiro, Fred
Sent: Monday, January 15, 2024 2:53 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Etymology of Flack

External Email - Think Before You Click


Subsequent to my American Speech article on "flack," in 2014 I posted the following antedatings:


flack (OED, n.2., 1946)

1933 _Variety_ 20 Sept. Peripatetic Flack Press agent at one of the downtown radio stations.

1933 _Variety_ 7 Oct. Flack Writes Lyndsley Parsons, Monogram press agent.

1933 _Variety_ 24 Oct. Flack Quits Blake McVeigh resigned from the Paramount publicity staff, effective Saturday.


Fred Shapiro



________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>> on behalf of Baker, John <000014a9c79c3f97-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:000014a9c79c3f97-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>>
Sent: Monday, January 15, 2024 2:44 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>>
Subject: Etymology of Flack

What is the current thinking on the etymology of "flack," a public relations representative? I am aware that Fred Shapiro had an article in American Speech arguing that it derived from the name of Gene Flack, a publicist in the 1930s, although I have not seen the article. However, Merriam-Webster wrote in 2008 that they remained skeptical about that and other claims. I gather that the timing of its usage makes a derivation from "flak," anti-aircraft fire, unlikely.


John Baker






------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C3245af260870451b94c308dc16064aad%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638409463481053081%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=2UJXUIL%2BHrO%2BRcLzTdx5LtYQ1XS8cMU9LpOntLdraWo%3D&reserved=0<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C3245af260870451b94c308dc16064aad%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638409463481060540%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=5%2F56QxauGGMGFYYVLIr7LHHddtalFjs4ZzqQX2G8qos%3D&reserved=0><https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C3245af260870451b94c308dc16064aad%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638409463481065613%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=mUiOsnF2zKAkHen%2Bj7yMS80Wo6yCX6grzyuWIEOS%2Bnw%3D&reserved=0<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C3245af260870451b94c308dc16064aad%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638409463481069529%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=U3MQjKmk8YsFPk80Y9XQP%2B0COypMq%2FuYaCHhcJcDQ%2BI%3D&reserved=0>><http://www.americandialect.org/>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C3245af260870451b94c308dc16064aad%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638409463481073298%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=sd%2FKap9ekePoMLABMdugVsT66YvbSFMdGtosGkxTzGg%3D&reserved=0<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C3245af260870451b94c308dc16064aad%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638409463481077062%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=4ESY%2Bp5eEQclWJLMHlwQDg7rwSlmmlZYySx2hTMv1xg%3D&reserved=0><http://www.americandialect.org/>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C3245af260870451b94c308dc16064aad%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638409463481080789%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=ATYaVz5yuBv9DcgmqS06D5q2utpQuK1OFSTduoPTqQw%3D&reserved=0<http://www.americandialect.org/>

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