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.

bobbins (n. pl.: rubbish) antedate 1991
bosting (adj., chiefly W. Midlands: excellent, superb) antedate 1974
G and T (n.: gin and tonic) antedate 1960
keepy-up (n.: the action or game of keeping a ball in the air for as long as possible by bouncing it a number of times off any part of the body except the hands and arms; an instance of this) antedate 1958
keepy-uppy (n.: keepy-up) antedate 1983
limoncello (or lemoncello) (n.: a lemon-flavoured Italian liqueur) antedate 1993
prêt-à-porter (n.: clothes sold ready to wear) antedate 1959
prêt-à-porter (adj.: sold ready to wear) antedate 1957
pretend (adj.: imaginary, imitative) interdate 1768–1920
to put it about (v.: to be promiscuous) interdate 1817–1975
pressmanship (n.: journalism) interdate 1882–1996
press-mark (v.: to give (fabric) a press mark; to mark with an iron) antedate or post-date 1948
Primroser (n.: a member or supporter of the Primrose League) post-date 1891
primroser (n.: a person who seeks or gathers primroses) any evidence
prince (v.: to behave as a prince) interdate a1616–1855
prince (v.: to make a prince of) interdate 1656–1873
princess-president (n.: a person who is a princess and also a president) any evidence
principality (n.: the office or position of principal of a college, university, etc.; principalship) post-date a1882

Please send submissions to oed3@oup.com