[Ads-l] antedating "rust bucket"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Vivid term, JL. Here is a match in Hawaii.

Date: February 10, 1940
Newspaper: Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Newspaper Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Article: Aloha Lines
Author: Richard Weinberg
Quote Page 16, Column 6
Database: Newspapers.com
https://www.newspapers.com/image/259141401/?terms=bucket&match=1

[Begin excerpt]
The Allies want any ships that will run, no matter how old and
obsolete. There really is logic in this, since there is just as much
danger of a valuable ship being sunk by a submarine as there is of
losing a "rust bucket."
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sun, Aug 3, 2025 at 9:02 AM Jonathan Lighter
<00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> An old and rusty ship.  OED: 1944
>
> 1941 _Daily Worker_ (NYC) (Apr. 14) 4: This definitely affects all cargo
> taken [on] this rust bucket for the States.
>
> JL
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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