[Ads-l] Possible Further Antedating of "Square" (Slang Term)

[Shapiro, Fred]

The following citation, which I think was discovered by Stephen Goranson, could be considered as a further antedating of the slang term "square."

square. n. (OED, 16.a., 1944)

1939 Punch 15 Mar. 283 [from a glossary of Harlem slang]

Square. A bore, a pest (syn.: jeff, icky). After all, a square often deserves to be Igged.

Fred Shapiro


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