[Ads-l] antedating ninja

[Ben Zimmer]

It's a bit implausible that an Episcopal priest from North Carolina was
referring to Japanese ninjas in his 1950s inspirational verse.

https://historicbathsite.wordpress.com/2015/04/28/alex-c-d-noe-a-tribute-during-national-poetry-month/

My best guess is that "a ninja rubber ball" is eye dialect for "an India
rubber ball." OED has "India rubber ball" (s.v. "India rubber") from 1828.

--bgz


On Sun, Jul 12, 2026 at 1:36 AM Bill Mullins <amcombill at hotmail.com> wrote:

> ninja adj. OED has 1966
>
>
> 1959 Alex C. D. Noe,  Above the Rim and Other Poems 16
>
>  Just take a ninja rubber ball
> An’ bounce it up an’ down, nat’s all.
>
>
> https://archive.org/details/aboverimotherpoe0000alex/page/15/mode/1up?q=ninja
>
>
>

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