[Ads-l] Antedating of "Balk" (Baseball)

[Bill Mullins]

Doesn't the OED routinely use quotes from later material when the originals
(such as letters) are not available?  Or am I remembering the practice from
other historical dictionaries?

On Fri, Aug 28, 2026 at 5:48 PM Shapiro, Fred <
00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> balk (OED, n1, 1867)
>
> 1848 By-laws and Rules of the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club 13
>
> A runner cannot be put out in making one base, when a balk is made by the
> pitcher.
>
> NOTE:  The OED's 1845 citation is not reliable, since there is no
> surviving printing of the 1845 rules.  I found the 1848 citation by
> examining the Yale University Library copy, one of only two known to exist.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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