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

[Ben Zimmer]

Would that be the Frost/Nixon corollary of the Humpty Dumpty proposition?

On Tue, Jan 6, 2026 at 6:00 PM Jonathan Lighter <
00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> 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
> >
> >
> >
> > 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
> >
> >
> >   *   Previous message (by thread): [Ads-l] Antedating of "America First"
> > <
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> >   *
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> >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
>

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