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

[Bonnie Taylor-Blake]

Thank you, Garson -- that's very kind. (I have to admit that it was
pretty much dumb luck on that one.)

-- Bonnie

On Wed, Sep 25, 2024 at 8:51 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 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/
> > .]

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