[Ads-l] Origin of "Gitmo"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Earlier {Gtmo}:

1917 _Moline [Ill.] Daily Dispatch_ (Nov. 1) 2 [Newspapers.com]: On the
reverse side is engraved the young man's name and the letters "Gtmo, Cuba,"
which is an abbreviation of the name of the place where he is stationed.

JL

On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 1:36 PM Dave Wilton <dave at wilton.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Origin of "Gitmo"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I would guess that the official abbreviation (and possibly the early
> journalistic usage as well) comes from telegraphy. "GTMO" is the military's
> telegraphic abbreviation for the base. I always assumed that "Gitmo" was
> from this abbreviation. Or at least it was in the 1980s when I was doing
> communications security stuff. (I'm guessing that radio-telegraphy has gone
> as a technology, replaced by digital TCP/IP-based comms.)
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of
> Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 9:11 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Origin of "Gitmo"
>
> Bill Mullins reported a "Gitmo" from 1947.  The name became frequent in the
> media only during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Nor have I found it in
> fiction before that period.
>
> The word clearly derives from a pronunciation of the Anglo-Hispanic abbr.
> of
> "Guantanamo" rather than from some imaginitive wordplay. (Oxford American
> Dictionary reaches the same conclusion, but offers no cites: its spelling
> "GTMO," the current official form, suggests their evidence is more recent
> than most of the following.)
>
>
> 1919 _Salubridad y Asistencia Social_ XXI 221 [Google Books]: Gtmo. Sugar
> Co.
>
> 1920 _A List, with Brief Records, of the Alumni and Students of
> Hampden-Sidney College, Virginia, who Served in the World War_ (Richmond,
> Va.: pvtly. ptd.) 54:  WHALEY, John Hughes (Ex. '18) : ... overseas 6
> months
> 7th Regiment, U. S. Marines, Cuba; 14 months Naval Dispensary, Gtmo. Bay,
> Cuba; 4 months U. S. S. Arkansas; promoted ph. m-1; discharged Receiving
> Ship, Washington, D. C, Aug. 5, 1919.
>
> 1933 _The Daily Gleaner_ (Kingston, Jamaica) (June 10) 2: IN MEMORIAM In
> loving memory of my beloved husband, Richard E. Johnston, who fell asleep
> in
> the Arms of Jesus on the 10th June, 1931 at Gtmo, Cuba.
>
> 1945 _Troy (N.Y.) Record_ (Apr. 12) 20: Having volunteered for foreign
> duty,
> she was sent to the GTMO Naval Base in Cuba at the end of her basic
> training
> [in 1943].
>
> JL
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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