[Ads-l] Antedating of "Beam Me Up, Scotty"

Sat Mar 9 21:56:55 UTC 2024

Interesting topic, Fred. The OED citation is from the entry for the
verb "beam". The OED entry lists several citations from the "Star
Trek" television show including the following which mentions "Mr.
Scott" (but not "Scottie/Scotty") and uses "us" instead of "me".

[Begin excerpt]
1967–8
Kirk: Beam us up, Mr. Scott.
M. Armen, Gamesters of Triskelion in Star Trek (television script)
[End excerpt]

The earliest match I found for "beam us up" that is arguably not
literal (with respect to the Star Trek domain) appeared in a fanzine
in 1968. A fan attended a party at FUNCON. After the party the fan saw
the cityscape of Los Angeles and perceived it as reminiscent of
science fiction. So the fan said "Beam us up, Mr. Sulu".

Date: September 1, 1968
Fanzine: Shangri L'Affaires
Note: The Official Organ of LASFS (Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society)
Passage written by Jim Schumacher
Quote Page 18

https://www.fanac.org/fanzines/Shangri-laffaires/Shangri-laffaires-laffaires-seriesb-74-rudolph-1968-09.pdf

[Begin excerpt]
We walked slowly up the ramp, onto the giant slab of steel rising high
into the starry night. Open to us in 360° panorama was the incredible
strange skyline of Los Angeles —seen through the middle. Bright pastel
towers and sheets of leaping white windows. A full
moon...planet...coming up behind the spires in the east.
We stood wide-eyed in the middle of the spaceport.
"Beam us up, Mr. Sulu," I said.
Seven stones against the sky.
[End excerpt]

In 1972 another non-literal use occurred in a newspaper headline about
fans of the cancelled television series. The headline said:  "Beam Us
Up, Star Trek Lives".

Date: March 19, 1972
Newspaper: The Sunday Home News
Newspaper Location: New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Article: Beam Us Up, Star Trek Lives
Author: Jerry Buck (Associated Press Writer)
Quote Page C10, Column 1
Database: ProQuest

[Begin headline title]
Beam Us Up, Star Trek Lives
[End headline title]

In 1974 a passage of fanfiction used the expression "Prepare to beam
us up, Mr. Scott".

Date: July 1974
Fanzine: T-Negative 23
Fan Fiction: In the Maze by Jennifer Guttridge
Start Page 14, Quote Page 37

https://www.fanac.org/fanzines/T-Negative/T-Negative-neg23.pdf

[Begin excerpt page 37]
"No, they were... returned to us. There are ten to beam up,
Mr. Scott. You may take us in any order that's convenient."
[End excerpt]

[Begin excerpt page 37]
"It's all right, Scotty. Just...an ethical scientist
closing up shop and going home." He glanced at Spock and McCoy.
"Have a medical team on hand. Prepare to beam us up, Mr. Scott."
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sat, Mar 9, 2024 at 8:50 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:
>
> beam me up, Scotty (OED 1984)
>
> 1974 _St. Petersburg Times_ 19 Aug. 4-D/2 (ProQuest)
>
> As Shatner ran down the road ... I kept hoping he would ... escape all these indignities, with four little words: "Beam me up, Scottie."
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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