[Ads-l] Antedating of Unc

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The Oxford English Dictionary has a pertinent entry for "Unk" which
includes the variant "Unc". The first citation is dated 1868.

Further below I present an 1825 citation for "Unk" with the desired
sense. The excerpt contains non-standard spellings such as "Deer" for
"Dear" and "sumbody" for "somebody".

[Begin OED excerpt]
Unk noun
colloquial (originally U.S.).
An informal term for: one's uncle; an uncle. Cf. Unky n.
Chiefly used as a form of address, or as a title, preceding a first name.

1868 My pap and two unks and a host of our friends are loyal Virginians.
E. D. E. N. Southworth, Fair Play xxxi. 430

1895 How Unc' Tom he wared he swaller-tail ev'y day when he wait on de table.
T. N. Page, Unc' Edinburg 10
[End OED excerpt]

The citation below is dated July 26, 1825, but "Unk" is contained in a
letter dated July 12, 1825. Follow the link to see a clipping from the
newspaper.

Date: July 26, 1825
Newspaper: York Recorder (becomes Pennsylvania Republican)
Newspaper Location: York, Pennsylvania
Letter reprinted from Vermont Recorder
Letter from Jo. Strickland
Quote Page 3, Column 3
Database: Newspapers.com

https://www.newspapers.com/article/pennsylvania-republican-unk/206796276/

[Begin excerpt]
>From the Vermont Recorder
Extract of a letter from Jo. Strickland to his Uncle Ben.
New-York, July 12, 1825.

Deer Unk—I told you before I started, that next time you heered of me,
would be that I was sumbody or nobody, now 'ill jist give you a little
histry.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sat, Sep 26, 2026 at 10:42 PM Frank Taylor
<000025edaf6b3f66-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> I'm looking for the earliest attestation of Unc that we have in media. I
> just caught that in the movie Creed (2015), the main character calls Rocky
> Balboa "unc". I'd thought this was a newer-ish term, but apparently I just
> haven't been paying attention.
>
>
> --
> ______________
> Frank M. Taylor
> {GitHub, Bluesky, Threads } = paceaux <https://paceaux.com>
> blog.frankmtaylor.com
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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