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

Fri May 10 18:40:32 UTC 2024

News Article<https://infoweb-newsbank-com.proxy.lib.duke.edu/apps/readex/doc?p=EANX&sort=YMD_date%3AA&page=3&f=advanced&val-base-0=whirlwind&fld-base-0=ocrtext&bln-base-1=and&val-base-1=twister&fld-base-1=ocrtext&docref=image/v2%3A18FFDD04B1FB1C07%40EANX-1976249C6AF14580%402403998-19747B457AA4E3D2%401-19747B457AA4E3D2%40&firsthit=yes> page 2
Date
October 27, 1869
Source
Genesee Valley Free Press (published as WELLSVILLE FREE PRESS.)
Place(s) of Publication
Wellsville, New York
In search of honey, up a tree.
"About this time a regular twister of a whirlwind broke off the branch at the cuttings, 'and down came' Richards, tree, honey, 'and all.'"

________________________________
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 2:29 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Twister (tornado), slight antedating (1878)

Thank you so much, Stephen. This is very helpful.

As you've probably guessed, I gave up looking for "twister" alone
("[hay] twister," who knew?) without throwing in, say, "cyclone,"
"tornado," "wind," or "storm." I had completely overlooked
"whirlwind."

When you have a chance, could you share the 1869 text? I'm curious
whether it's from Kansas.

-- Bonnie

On Fri, May 10, 2024 at 2:01 PM Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:
>
> 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.]
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.americandialect.org__;!!OToaGQ!qoLqbOlZFlMmnvbJQ18PB6tR3FmXBoM2PJHnaPWSjuu4UeY1lyED0acx1LmL6Fa-56xljWamRuK1SPt4wLSa184$
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.americandialect.org__;!!OToaGQ!vW0UeB5nkaSZKGFGDx1Mh4H6eD7XCvXH1IX6l5pJEgUWtjeo5Sztcdq_QHOtHJbWNY5PGpNJ3ynjN_okM7fuV2Y$

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.americandialect.org__;!!OToaGQ!vW0UeB5nkaSZKGFGDx1Mh4H6eD7XCvXH1IX6l5pJEgUWtjeo5Sztcdq_QHOtHJbWNY5PGpNJ3ynjN_okM7fuV2Y$

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