[Ads-l] Antedating of "Freestyle" (Verb) (Rap)

[Jesse Sheidlower]

OED sense 2 is 1990, not 1989, but more significantly, OED would regard this as an example of the verbal noun _freestyling_, which OED has from 1952 (they don't separate out the senses of the noun; the only rap example is from 2004, but this doesn't indicate anything about their earliest use of this sense). The general style for this would be to put this quote at the noun, and add a bracketed 1988 quote at v. sense 2 reading "implied in [x-r to the noun quote]" or something like that.

Jesse Sheidlower

On Sat, Dec 13, 2025 at 02:33:37AM +0000, Shapiro, Fred wrote:
> freestyle, v. (OED, 2., 1989)
> 
> 1988 Option 1 Sept. 35/1 (ProQuest)
> 
> Shante is a supreme show woman ... she's renowned for her "freestyling," quick-witted rhyming at the drop of a dime.
> 
> Fred Shapiro
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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