[Ads-l] Antedating of "Ghetto" (Adjective)

[Laurence Horn]

I'm pretty sure there's a typo either in Fred's cite or in the Chicago
Tribune article referenced therein. Or, probably more likely, an
autocorrect error.

There was no Still Junior High School in the neighborhood, but there was
(and I believe continues to be) an Edward W. *Stitt* Junior High (now
Middle) School on 164th and Edgecombe Avenue (a.k.a. JHS 164) in the shadow
of the Polo Grounds.  I attended it in 1956-57.

LH

On Thu, Jul 2, 2026 at 5:48 PM Bill Mullins <amcombill at hotmail.com> wrote:

> >   ghetto, adj. (OED 1987)
> >
> >   1977 Chicago Tribune 19 Oct. Section 3, page 4/1 (Newspapers.com)
> >
> >   I grew up in Harlem.  I attended elementary school at P.S. 186 at
> 145th and Amsterdam, and
> >   I attended Still Junior High, and the Food Trades High School and
> George Washington High at
> >   192d and Audubon.  That's ghetto, real ghetto.
> >
> >   Fred Shapiro
>
> I'm not wholly clear on the distinction between sense B., which Fred is
> antedating, and sense C1.b., which seems very similar.
>
>
> 1963 Petal MS _The Petal Paper_ 7 Nov 1/3
>
> If statistically Negroes commit more crimes in America than Non-Negroes,
> the cause lies not in our "Negro-ness" but in the very ghetto life that we
> are forced to lead under a system of rigid segregation, in the formation we
> receive.
>
>
> https://www.newspapers.com/image/900982145/?match=1&terms=%22very%20ghetto%22
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org