[Ads-l] Antedating of "Rug Cutting" and "Cut a Rug"

[Stephen Goranson]

Might "society strug" be a typo for "society strut"?

On Fri, Oct 9, 2026 at 10:15 AM ADSGarson O'Toole <
00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> Excellent citations, Fred. Here is "cut a rug" and "cut the rug" with
> the desired sense on the same day in November 1937.
>
> Date: November 27, 1937
> Newspaper: Detroit Tribune: The Leading Negro Weekly of Michigan
> Newspaper Location: Detroit, Michigan
> Article: East Detroit News
> Author: Katie Jones
> Quote Page 9, Column 8
> Database: GenealogyBank
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Did you want to cut a rug? You should have gone to the society strug
> given by the East Detroit Smart Set Social Club. There was a large
> crowd but it wasn't so snug. There was dancing, entertainment and
> plenty of fun.
> [End excerpt]
>
> I do not know the meaning of "strug". You may wish to examine the scan
> in GenealogyBank to double-check that word. It is not in the OED.
>
> Date: November 27, 1937
> Newspaper: The Billboard
> Newspaper Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
> Section: Music
> Article: Bless You, Sister
> Quote Page 21, Column 2
> Database: ProQuest
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> At the musicians' union benefit show last Monday Joseph N. Weber, AFM
> prez, was really "sent" by the hi-de-hoisms of Cab Calloway. Weber and
> his party, which included heads of the near-by locals, couldn't
> restrain from mugging the melody of Minnie the Moocher at the callings
> of Cab. Following night found Calloway cupping his ear to a phonograph
> recording where he got the urge to cut the rug from Rosetta Howard and
> the Harlem Hamfats asking Is You a Viper?
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Thu, Oct 8, 2026 at 4:57 PM Shapiro, Fred
> <00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
> >
> > rug cutting (OED 1937)  1932 Chicago Defender 19 Mar. 7/7
> (Newspapers.com)  We have until Saturday, the 26th, to rest before the next
> "rug cutting" (dance).
> >
> > cut a rug (OED 1940)  1939 Birmingham Post 6 Jan. 3/1 (Newspapers.com)
> For "10 cents an hour" swing lovers in Birmingham will have opportunity to
> "cut a rug" aplenty the last two weeks in January.
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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