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

[Ben Yagoda]

Definitely, well done to Bonnie. For a bit more on “on the Q.T.” I covered it here on my blog Not One-Off Britishisms. https://notoneoffbritishisms.com/2022/03/23/on-the-q-t/

And on that subject, the book based on that blog—“Gobsmacked! The British Invasion of American English”—was published on Tuesday, adorned with a brilliant blurb from Fred Shapiro.

Ben

Date:    Wed, 25 Sep 2024 20:51:18 -0400
From:    ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM <mailto:adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>>
Subject: Re: "on the Q.T." (antedating to 1870)

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 <mailto: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