[Ads-l] "America First" and Quotations of the Year

Tue Jan 6 22:59:25 UTC 2026

When the President uses a term, it means just what he chooses it to mean -
neither more nor less. And when he says "America First," it means "a nice
knock-down argument."

JL

On Tue, Jan 6, 2026 at 5:31 PM Shapiro, Fred <
00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> I should add that, until now, the AP was very supportive and complimentary
> about the "notable quotations" lists.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 6, 2026 5:19 PM
> To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: "America First" and Quotations of the Year
>
> Thanks to Jon Lighter for zeroing in on this remarkable quote.  Aside from
> the questionable assertion that the coiner of a term gets to "decide" its
> meaning, we have here a staggering ignorance of American history.  The term
> "America First" was not only introduced a long time before our President
> was born, it was extremely prominent in the early-to-mid period of U.S.
> 20th-century history.  Stephen Goranson has found it in 1855 (see postings
> of Stephen and myself below).
>
> Incidentally, if anyone is wondering why there was no "Notable Quotations
> of the Year" list from me, the Associated Press has decided to discontinue
> its dissemination of these annual lists.  I could try to find a new
> disseminator, but I think it best to let it die.  The concept was always a
> quirky and problematic one, and I have post-traumatic-quote-syndrome
> because compilation of the lists forces me to confront the extraordinary
> awfulness of our contemporary politics and culture.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Jonathan Lighter <00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 6, 2026 9:01 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Another QOTY
>
> Atlantic (Jan., 2026):
>
> When I caught Donald Trump by phone this morning, the president wanted to
> make one thing clear: “America First” means whatever he says it does.
>
>
>
> “Well, considering that I’m the one that developed ‘America First,’ and
> considering that the term wasn’t used until I came along, I think I’m the
> one that decides that.”
>
> JL
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society
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>
>
> Stephen Goranson
>     goranson at DUKE.EDU
> <mailto:ads-l%40listserv.linguistlist.org
> ?Subject=Re%3A%20%5BAds-l%5D%20Antedating%20of%20%22America%20First%22&In-Reply-To=%3CBL0PR05MB4772562C2E0CB85CA1862A43B8770%
> 40BL0PR05MB4772.namprd05.prod.outlook.com%3E>
>
>     Sat Mar  2 12:40:54 UTC 2019
>
>
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> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2019-March/author.html#154247>Lighter
>   L
>
> I agree with Churchwell p. 41 that "America first" was "not
> suddenly...invented by an individual...."
>
> E.g., June 18, 1855, Philadelphia Inquirer 1:3;
>
> "As an American citizen, I prefer this rain [it was raining] or any other
> reign, than the reign of foreignism. (Applause.) I could have America
> first, last, and always. I could go for America first,...."
>
>
> Stephen
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <...> on behalf of Shapiro, Fred <...>
> Sent: Friday, March 1, 2019 4:14:28 PM
> To: ...
> Subject: [ADS-L] Antedating of "America First"
>
> The OED's first use citation for the phrase "America first" is dated
> 1915.  Sarah Churchwell _Behold, America_ (2018) discusses a number of
> earlier uses of "American first" beginning in 1884, at pages 39-40 of her
> book.
>
>
> Fred Shapiro
> <
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.americandialect.org&d=DwIFAw&c=imBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=uUVa-8oDL2EzfbuMuowoUadHHcJ7pjul6iFkS5Pd--8&m=dqwtm9Ztor-KXNYSRprLGcnZtUcRDUGx2qFRdY2Wq6M&s=pb_p0Z6zOklkZvi2hNcRbZP1HP7H0EOxC01bmYjJsIM&e=
> >
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-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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