[Ads-l] Antedating of "Yo" (Greeting)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Excellent antedating, Fred. Here is a slightly earlier instance in
1979. Two characters are greeting one another in a comic strip. Click
the link to see the full strip

Date: September 22, 1979 (The date next to the signature is 9-23 which
is a Sunday. Apparently, this strip was intended for Sunday
publication, but some newspapers published it on Saturday)
Newspaper: Statesville Record and Landmark
Newspaper Location: Statesville, North Carolina
Section: Comics
Comic Strip Title: The Born Loser
Comic Strip Artist: Art Sansom
Quote Page 1
Database: Newspapers.com
https://www.newspapers.com/article/statesville-record-and-landmark-yobrutus/177386740/

[Begin excerpt]
Panel 01
 YO, BRUTUS!
 YO, HURRICANE!

Panel 02
 WHAT'S UP?
[End excerpt]

On Thu, Jul 24, 2025 at 4:51 PM Shapiro, Fred
<00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> CORRECTION:  The citation below should be "partner," not "partners."
>
> yo (greeting) (OED 1988)
>
> 1980 New York Times 19 Oct. section 6, page 44 ff.
>
> He ambles out the door and heads for the nearest pay phone to call his partners.  "Yo, man," he says, "it's NE.  I got the rest of my colors.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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