[Ads-l] Possible Antedating of "Bible Belt"

[Ben Zimmer]

On Mon, Jul 8, 2024 at 10:27 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:

> Bible Belt (OED Oct 13, 1924)
>
> 1924 [Presumably H. L. Mencken in] Oct. 171/1 (Internet Archive)
>
> IOWA  Progress of the New Jurisprudence in the Bible Belt.
>

The source is missing here -- it's from The American Mercury. Always
helpful to provide a link, too:

https://archive.org/details/sim_american-mercury_1924-10_3_10/page/171/mode/1up

Here's the Oct. 13, 1924 Mencken column in the Baltimore Evening Sun cited
by the OED -- hard to say which appeared earlier:

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-sun-mencken-bible-belt/150913772/

--bgz

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