[Ads-l] Major Antedating of "Fakelore"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Looks like a simple error to me.  "Fakelore" doesn't seem to fit the
context.

But here is a genuine antedating (Fred has undoubtedly found it):

1944 _Charlotte Observer_ (Aug. 20) II 13:  We can but tally it up as
another bit of American wildlife fakelore.

The words appears four more times in the _Observer_ over the next month.

The received wisdom among folklorists back when I almost majored in the
subject was that Richard Dorson had coined the word in 1949, but
Newspapers.com quotes Dorson using it one year earlier.

JL

On Mon, Mar 23, 2026 at 10:59 AM Shapiro, Fred <
00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> fakelore (OED 1949)
>
> 1893 Philadelphia Inquirer 18 June 15/2 (Newspapers.com)
>
> The Oriental section [of the Chicago World's Fair], in charge of Mr.
> Culin, director of the museum [at the University of Pennsylvania], has its
> collection in the Anthropological Building.  It comprises an extensive
> exhibit of games, fakelore and religious objects.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


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