[Ads-l] Antedating of "Politically Incorrect"

[Shapiro, Fred]

I should say "Jon" rather than "John.".

Fred Shapiro


________________________________
From: Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
Sent: Sunday, June 29, 2025 1:53 PM
To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Antedating of "Politically Incorrect"

Yes, quite right, John.  But the OED entries for "politically correct" and "politically incorrect" include citations in the general senses, and that is what I was antedating.

Really, the history of "politically correct" and related terms has had four phases: (1) prosaic general sense; (2) earnest Communist usage; (3) liberal parodying of their brethren at the far reaches of self-righteousness; and (4)  right-wing parodying of leftist usage.

Fred Shapiro


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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Jonathan Lighter <00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, June 29, 2025 1:04 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Antedating of "Politically Incorrect"

Seems to me these people were incorrect politically only in the most
general sense. I don't think they were "politically incorrect" in the
current sense (i.e., holding illiberal or anti-progressive opinions).

JL

On Sat, Jun 28, 2025 at 9:29 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:

> politically incorrect (OED 1876)
>
> [1862 Philadelphia Inquirer 11 Feb. 8/1 (Newspapers.com)  Calhoun was
> heard to mutter: — "There is no such thing as a nation ... Bishop Gadsden
> is logically and politically incorrect in talking about getting up a prayer
> for the Union."]
>
> 1866 Harrisburg Telegraph 3 Dec. 2/1 (Newspapers.com)  Every man who voted
> in favor of Congress was impressed with the conviction that the President
> was more than politically incorrect — that he was desperately and
> criminally wrong.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
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