Appeals

Words or phrases which appear on the Appeals List are those currently being drafted or revised for the OED for which the documentary evidence is incomplete. Often these are slang or colloquial items which cannot be researched in specialist texts and are most likely to be found by a general reader in non-specialized or popular literature.

Usually the appeal is for an earlier example than our current earliest (e.g. 'antedate 1970' for a word for which our earliest example comes from 1970), but sometimes the appeal is for an interdating where there is a large gap in the OED's quotation evidence (e.g. 'interdate 1589–1910'). Occasionally we ask for a post-dating (e.g. 'post-date 1875'), if an editor feels that an item being revised is still current but has failed to find any recent examples through the usual avenues of research.

Please note: it is generally safe to assume that examples found by searching the Web, using search engines such as Google, will have already been considered by OED editors.

cwtch (n.: Welsh English, a cupboard or cubby-hole, a hiding place) antedate 1973 with non-glossarial evidence
cwtch (n.: Welsh English, a cuddle, a hug) antedate 1992
cwtch (v.: Welsh English, to hug) antedate 1965
doobrey (n.: a ‘thingummy’) antedate 1984
portcullis (v.: to furnish with a portcullis; to close with or as with a portcullis) interdate 1773–1932
potch (v.: to slap, smack) post-date 1973
pot ear (n.: a pot handle) interdate ?c1475–1952
potentacy (n.: the state or rule of a potentate; supreme power) interdate 1715–1916
poutish (adj.: somewhat pouting) interdate 1725–1913
praemunire facias (n.: a writ charging a sheriff to summon a person accused of asserting or maintaining papal jurisdiction in England) interdate c1475–1929
prairie chicken (n.: a newcomer) antedate 1911, or post-date 1976
prairie skirt (n.: a long, full skirt with a gathered waist) antedate 1965
prat (n.: an idiot, a fool) interdate a1542–1968
prat digger (n.: a pickpocket) any non-glossarial evidence
prat digging (n.: the action of stealing from a hip pocket) post-date 1927

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