[Ads-l] Dating of First Use for "Dis" (Verb)

[John Baker]

Various online sources confirm the 1979 date. Note that there are two different versions of the song, which were released on opposite sides of the same single. According to the label, the song is Spoonin Rap [no apostrophe], by Spoonie Gee, and there is a 1979 copyright date. The A side, which is subtitled A Drive Down The Street I Was Spanking And Freaking, is the version that includes the word “dissed.” The B side, which does not include it, is subtitled I Don’t Drink Smoke Or Gamble Neither I’m The Cold Crushing Lover.   

The song is on YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0Hvp1AduZw. The lyrics are transcribed at https://genius.com/Spoonie-gee-spoonin-rap-a-drive-down-the-street-i-was-spanking-and-freaking-lyrics. Spoonie Gee has a Wikipedia article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoonie_Gee.  The passage with “dissed” is:

And for you sucker-sucker dudes who commit a crime
You wanna do bad, but don't do the time
I say you wanna be dissed and then you wanna be a crook
You find a old lady, take her pocketbook
And then you steal your mother's borrowed money on the sly


John Baker


> On Jun 29, 2025, at 5:25 PM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:
> 
> The OED's first use for the verb "dis" is a song titled "Spoonin' Rap," dated 1980.  However, I believe that the proper dating for "Spoonin' Rap" is 1979, based on newspaper advertisements for the record found on Newspapers.com.
> 
> Fred Shapiro
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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