[Ads-l] Further Antedating of "Loose Cannon"

[Shapiro, Fred]

I intentionally disregarded extended-metaphor citations.  It appears to me that the Nixon usage about John Dean is the locus classicus.

Fred Shapiro

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM>
Sent: Sunday, September 8, 2024 4:54 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Further Antedating of "Loose Cannon"

The OED entry already has earlier examples of more metaphorical examples like this, including a 1889 cite for "a loose cannon in a storm-tossed ship" and a 1946 cite quoting Theodore Roosevelt saying "I don't want to be the old cannon loose on the deck in the storm". OED includes these in brackets, with the note "In earlier use, typically as part of an extended metaphor."

Jesse Sheidlower

On Sun, Sep 08, 2024 at 08:48:00PM +0000, mr_peter_morris at outlook.com wrote:
> Does this count?
>
> New York Times Magazine
> June 25th 1972
>
> https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2Fbooks%2Fedition%2FHearings%2FqUwgAAAAMAAJ%3Fhl%3Den%26gbpv%3D1%26dq%3D%2522a%2Bloose%2Bcannon%2522%2B-%2522You%2Bcannot%2Bkill%2Bit%2522%26pg%3DRA6-PA298%26printsec%3Dfrontcover&data=05%7C02%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C5fc4dba9b1d548027ccd08dcd0486ce2%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638614256702886188%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=W%2B2po3eQbdaGR5D3uEfk2QdCJ4ZjQZcSdAGRXVUbIOw%3D&reserved=0<https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Hearings/qUwgAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22a+loose+cannon%22+-%22You+cannot+kill+it%22&pg=RA6-PA298&printsec=frontcover>
>
> "A great nation such as Japan, rootless and turned in on itself
> could be an unpredictable force in world politics, threatening the
> stability
> of the Far East like a loose canon on a ship in high seas."
>
>
>
> ------ Original Message ------
> From "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Date 08/09/2024 18:45:51
> Subject Further Antedating of "Loose Cannon"
>
> >loose cannon (OED 1977)
> >
> >1973 Richard M. Nixon Telephone Conversation 15 Apr. in Chicago Tribune 1 May 121/2 (1974)  Dean out there is a loose cannon.
> >
> >Fred Shapiro
> >
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