[Ads-l] Twister (tornado), slight antedating (1878)

Fri May 10 18:01:01 UTC 2024

To Bonnie's typically-excellent post I can only mention that twister and whirlwind (not necessarily describing a tornado) appear together in an article in American Historical Newspapers in 1869, and twister, whirlwind, and tornado appear together in Sept. 29, 1889, as may already be known.                                   sg
________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Bonnie Taylor-Blake <b.taylorblake at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Friday, May 10, 2024 12:41 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Twister (tornado), slight antedating (1878)

OED has an 1897 use of "twister" as its earliest example: "Kansas..is
a favourite spot of the ‘twisters’ as the Westerns playfully term
their windy enemy (the tornado)."

The Online Etymology Dictionary, however, notes that "twister" with
the "[m]eaning 'tornado' is attested from 1881, American English."

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.etymonline.com/word/twister*etymonline_v_25135__;Iw!!OToaGQ!qoLqbOlZFlMmnvbJQ18PB6tR3FmXBoM2PJHnaPWSjuu4UeY1lyED0acx1LmL6Fa-56xljWamRuK1SPt4uc2yKlc$

Here are some slightly earlier sightings. (I fully anticipate the more
patient of you finding still earlier appearances.)

-- Bonnie

A SMALL TWISTER. [Headline, The Chicago Tribune, 4 June 1878, p. 2,
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-twister-6478/146886632/__;!!OToaGQ!qoLqbOlZFlMmnvbJQ18PB6tR3FmXBoM2PJHnaPWSjuu4UeY1lyED0acx1LmL6Fa-56xljWamRuK1SPt4Lrn2Pys$ .]

A TWISTER. On the farm of Mr. Selleck, a small tree a foot and a half
and diameter, was lifted out bodily by the roots. [In "A CYCLONE;
Middletown Visited by a Terrible Wind and Rain Storm," Middletown (New
York) Daily Press, 22 July 1878, p. 3,
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-jul-22-1878-4459717/__;!!OToaGQ!qoLqbOlZFlMmnvbJQ18PB6tR3FmXBoM2PJHnaPWSjuu4UeY1lyED0acx1LmL6Fa-56xljWamRuK1SPt4-anR-Rw$ .]

CYCLONE GAMBOLS; The Twister That Twisted the Country Round About as
It Never was Twisted Before" [Headline, The Kansas City (Missouri)
Journal, 1 June 1879, p. 5,
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.newspapers.com/article/kansas-city-journal-twister-6179/146886461/__;!!OToaGQ!qoLqbOlZFlMmnvbJQ18PB6tR3FmXBoM2PJHnaPWSjuu4UeY1lyED0acx1LmL6Fa-56xljWamRuK1SPt4tdk8j9k$ .]

He has been all over the ground, and followed the track of each of the
five tornadoes. The *Herald* says that he will soon make an account
and official report with maps. Mr. Finley says the Kansas people call
these storms "twisters." It is an English word, stronger than tornado,
which also means to turn or whirl, and we hope it will come into
general use. [In a piece quoting the St. Joseph (Missouri) Herald, The
Hays City (Kansas) Sentinel, 4 July 1879, p. 2,
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-hays-city-sentinel-twister-7479/146886661/__;!!OToaGQ!qoLqbOlZFlMmnvbJQ18PB6tR3FmXBoM2PJHnaPWSjuu4UeY1lyED0acx1LmL6Fa-56xljWamRuK1SPt4Q3lOG5g$ .]

The wind came in all its fury, but instead of being a regular old-time
twister, it was a smooth, even blow, but of sufficient force to blow
in the front of the bank building ... [In "A Bluster," The Kirwin
(Kansas) Chief, 2 July 1879, p. 3,
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kirwin-chief-twister-7279/146886140/__;!!OToaGQ!qoLqbOlZFlMmnvbJQ18PB6tR3FmXBoM2PJHnaPWSjuu4UeY1lyED0acx1LmL6Fa-56xljWamRuK1SPt41l_3v_Y$ .]

CYCLONE; A Twister, Perhaps a Western Truant, Visits Massachusetts
[Headline, The Chicago Tribune, 17 July 1879, p. 2,
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2*3A163BE68F9CBDBA18*40GB3NEWS-16D20B5A080CCAE4*402407548-16D20B5EB8ADD8C5*401?clipid=xektzwtcgxcddstclgfppqrapdcppsnd_ip-10-166-46-98_1715281437521__;JSUlJQ!!OToaGQ!qoLqbOlZFlMmnvbJQ18PB6tR3FmXBoM2PJHnaPWSjuu4UeY1lyED0acx1LmL6Fa-56xljWamRuK1SPt43M4_dQ4$ .]

It was an awful hot day, and we imagined that a little wind would be
no bad thing. But the little breeze has well nigh developed a regular
funnel-shaped cyclone twister. [In "The Exodus Muddle," The Daily
Commonwealth (Topeka), 25 July 1879, p. 2,
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-commonwealth-twister-72579/146886340/__;!!OToaGQ!qoLqbOlZFlMmnvbJQ18PB6tR3FmXBoM2PJHnaPWSjuu4UeY1lyED0acx1LmL6Fa-56xljWamRuK1SPt4AQMoJgg$ .]

THE TEMPESTUOUS TWISTER; The Sabbath Squall and Tortuous Tornado that
Wreaked Devistation [sic] Upon the Land. [Headline, The Rockford
(Illinois) Journal, 24 April 1880, p. 1,
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2*3A130FB81A1E9520B4*40GB3NEWS-133027E283ECCB59*402407830-132FCF4CD3A1C754*400-132FCF4CD3A1C754?clipid=bxjmseaeuiyuadybswhxtyphujvdcyfq_ip-10-166-46-74_1715280888763__;JSUlJQ!!OToaGQ!qoLqbOlZFlMmnvbJQ18PB6tR3FmXBoM2PJHnaPWSjuu4UeY1lyED0acx1LmL6Fa-56xljWamRuK1SPt46VxMBSg$ .]

Some of those who have been assiduously engaged in constructing
cyclone caves are now afraid that no "twister" will come along to give
them a chance to try the efficacy of these subterranean retreats. [The
Saline County (Salina, Kansas) Journal, 29 April 1880, p. 4,
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2*3A16A0C17BA40883B9*40GB3NEWS-164A6503E3CA7236*402407835-164A6511C0A4F23A*403-164A6511C0A4F23A?clipid=vcuswerlcqiicbertalqroelfounqank_ip-10-166-46-160_1715281102884__;JSUlJQ!!OToaGQ!qoLqbOlZFlMmnvbJQ18PB6tR3FmXBoM2PJHnaPWSjuu4UeY1lyED0acx1LmL6Fa-56xljWamRuK1SPt4Vus_Blk$ .)

"Twister" is a Kansas word and means just what cyclone and tornado
mean, and the most expressive of all. It will be seen from the above
etymologies that cyclone, tornado and twister, mean the same thing --
a violent storm moving in a circle or turning in its progress.
[Reprinted from the Kansas City Journal, Brookville (Kansas)
Independent, 23 June 1881, p. 2,
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.newspapers.com/article/brookville-independent-twister-kansas-w/146887091/__;!!OToaGQ!qoLqbOlZFlMmnvbJQ18PB6tR3FmXBoM2PJHnaPWSjuu4UeY1lyED0acx1LmL6Fa-56xljWamRuK1SPt4od-hED8$ .
"Twister" also appears earlier in the piece.]

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