[Ads-l] Antedating of "Gang Bang"

[Jonathan Lighter]

I should have made it clear that Stephen Longstreet took credit as the
"editor" of _Nell Kimball_.

_Lower Than Angels_ was actually published in 1993, though  Longstreet was
already promising publication in 1970.  It was allegedly written in the
'30s.

Longstreet was a talented and prolific novelist, photographer, and
writer on jazz.

JL

On Wed, Jan 7, 2026 at 10:35 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Which is why, if HDAS ever does cite Longstreet's book, the date it gets
> is "1970."
>
> I also have strong suspicions about the Longstreet-promoted  _Lower Than
> Angels_ (1980), by a pseudonymous "W. W. Windstaff,"  a "World War I flying
> ace."
>
> JL
>
> On Wed, Jan 7, 2026 at 8:03 AM ADSGarson O'Toole <
> 00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
>> JL's reference work also has a 1945 citation.
>>
>> [ref] 1994, Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang,
>> Edited by J. E. Lighter (Jonathan E. Lighter), Volume 1: A to G,
>> Entry: gangbang, Quote Page 862, Random House, New York. (Verified
>> with scans) [/ref]
>>
>> [Begin except]
>> gangbang n. 1. an occasion on which a number of people copulate
>> successively with one person; (also) gang-rape; (also) a sexual orgy.
>> 1945 in Valant Aircraft Nose Art 206: Gang Bang.
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> On Wed, Jan 7, 2026 at 7:00 AM Shapiro, Fred
>> <00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>> >
>> > gang bang (OED 1957)
>> >
>> > 1945 United States v. First Lieutenant Ronald A. Kramer (Opinion of the
>> Board of Review) 327 (LexisNexis)
>> >
>> > After a brief conversation, accused and McKenna went outside.  A
>> "gang-bang" was suggested.
>> >
>> > NOTE: Green's Dictionary of Slang cites use of "gang bang" in Nell
>> Kimball's book American Madam (1930).  Green's Dictionary of Slang is an
>> incredible contribution to slang lexicography and is the more impressive
>> when it is considered as the work of a single person.  However, its
>> citation standards are less rigorous than those of the OED.  According to
>> Wikipedia, the book American Madam was a hoax.
>> >
>> > Fred Shapiro
>> >
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
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>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>


-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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