[Ads-l] "on the Q.T." (antedating to 1870)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Wonderful work, Bonnie! Searching for "Q.T." yields an endless supply
on false matches, so congratulations on finding a viable search
strategy.
Garson

On Tue, Sep 24, 2024 at 3:58 PM Bonnie Taylor-Blake
<b.taylorblake at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> OED has an 1876 citation for "on the Q.T.," though it looks like Jonathan
> Green places the same text to 1874 (
> https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/2qrupha#w62pcii).
>
> Green's dictionary further has an example of "on the strict QT" from 1880,
> while the OED shows an 1885 instance.
>
> Here are some slightly earlier examples of "on the [extreme] Q.T."
>
> -- Bonnie
>
> ------------------
>
> Unfortunately for John NIGHTINGALL, Albania, 4 yrs, 6st 2lb, is dead; and
> Cecil, 5 yrs, 7st 5lb, has been removed from Epson to be on "the extreme
> q.t." at Holywell Copse. [VATICINATOR, "Reflections and Anticipations,"
> Sunday Times (London), 8 May 1870, p. 6. Via Gale Primary Sources. About
> racehorses, if it wasn't apparent.]
>
> -------------
>
> They leave town with the apparently firm decision to spend a month or six
> weeks on the *q.t.* (which *q. t.* seems to be the fashionable slang for
> "on the quiet"). [Azamat Batuk, "Ins and Outs of the English Season," The
> Examiner (London), 3 August 1872, p. 765. Via Proquest British Periodicals.
> Here, asterisks indicate italicized text.)
>
> -------------
>
> Mr George Leybourne in song assured his hearers that he is on the "extreme
> Q.T.;" and the programme was completed by Miss Annie Adams, ... ["The
> London Music Halls," The Era (London), 7 February 1875, p. 4;
> https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-era-on-the-extreme-qt-271875/155747234/
> .]
>
> -------------
>
> Your predecessor, sir, Mr. Newsome, let us smoke on what concert hall
> "cads" term the extreme "Q-t." (or quiet) on the promenade. [In "Green Room
> Gossip," The Birmingham (England) Daily Mail, 10 April 1875, p. 4;
> https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-evening-mail-on-the-extre/155745194/
> .]
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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