[Ads-l] Antedating of "Reggae" Not Picked Up by OED

[Ben Zimmer]

As Dave notes in his "reggae" entry (
https://www.wordorigins.org/big-list-entries/reggae), the use of "Reggae"
in the list of songs appears to be shorthand for "Do the Reggay" by Toots
Hibbert's group The Maytals, which had just been released. I wouldn't treat
the 7 Sept. 1968 cite as evidence for the musical genre, which the 22 Nov.
cite (with "Reggae beat") more clearly illustrates.

Here are the relevant clippings from the Gleaner:
https://newspaperarchive.com/entertainment-clipping-sep-07-1968-1963169/
https://newspaperarchive.com/entertainment-clipping-nov-22-1968-1963232/

I linked to them from my 2020 WSJ column on "reggae" after Toots Hibbert
died:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/reggae-how-rags-came-to-yield-musical-riches-11600435848
archived: https://archive.is/cyVxm

And here's the ADS-L post where I originally shared these cites (the OED
entry was revised to include them in 2009):
https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2005-January/045320.html

--bgz


On Mon, Nov 17, 2025 at 8:34 AM Shapiro, Fred <
00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> It seems to me that Dave Wilton's 2022 website entry (wordorigins.org)
> for the term "reggae" contains a significant addition to the information in
> Ben Zimmer's pathbreaking 2005 posting and the OED's 2009 entry.  The OED
> has two senses for "reggae."  Sense 1 is the reggae dance.  Sense 2 is the
> reggae musical genre.  Sense 2 is the more important one.  The OED's first
> use for sense 2 is dated 22 Nov. 1968.  But Dave's entry includes the
> following, not covered by Ben's reference to a 7 Sept. 1968 advertisement
> nor by the OED:
>
> 1968 Kingston Daily Gleaner 7 Sept. 7/5  (advertisement) Hear these new
> Fab. Tunes: ... Reggae. [This appears in a list of titles.]
>
> This seems to be the title of a specific song, so arguably it does not
> belong with the OED's "musical genre" sense, but it is the first known use
> of this important word referring to music.  Perhaps it should be added to
> the OED entry for sense 2 in square brackets.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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