Do you have an earlier record of a word which our editors are currently researching? Browse our latest appeals below and help us record the English language.
You can also find out more about the OED appeals and read about our previous appeals on the OED blog.
Do you have an earlier record of a word which our editors are currently researching? Browse our latest appeals below and help us record the English language.
You can also find out more about the OED appeals and read about our previous appeals on the OED blog.
Hugo supplied a verifiable example from 1975.
The practice of consuming large servings of carbohydrates before participating in endurance sports was referred to as ‘carbohydrate loading’ as early as 1963, but the colloquial term ‘carbo-loading’ is more […]
Posted by OED_Editor on 9 November 2012 8.41
Tags: 1970s, Sport
Comments: 10
‘Bryn_OED’ provided verifiable evidence from 1953.
‘DIY’ is of course an abbreviation of ‘do it yourself’, and both terms refer to the carrying out of a task by oneself, especially around the home. The entries […]
Posted by OED_Editor on 7 November 2012 14.46
Tags: 1950s, abbreviations
Comments: 3
Ammon Shea provided evidence of ‘baked Alaska’ from 1891.
‘Alaska’, or ‘baked Alaska’, is a dessert made of ice cream topped with meringue, baked in a hot oven so that the meringue cooks before the ice cream melts. There are earlier examples of similar desserts, but […]
Posted by OED_Editor on 1 November 2012 2.19
Tags: 19th century, Food & Drink, North American
Comments: 21
Bryn has provided verifiable evidence from 1918.
The tribal practice of decapitating enemies and preserving their heads gave us the first sense of ‘headhunter’ in 1800. Nowadays we’re more likely to think of the less gruesome recruitment practice […]
Posted by OED_Editor on 22 October 2012 7.36
Tags: 1960s, Business
Comments: 5
Bill S provided a verifiable example of ‘bimble’ as a noun from 1980.
The word ‘bimble’, meaning ‘to move at a leisurely pace’, is sometimes said to have originated amongst British soldiers serving in the Falklands […]
Posted by OED_Editor on 18 October 2012 6.30
Tags: 1980s, British
Comments: 9
Lmcginlay has supplied a verifiable example from 1875.
OED’s researchers have traced the history of ‘header’ in the football (soccer) sense of ‘a shot, pass, or clearance made by heading the ball’ back to 1891 […]
Posted by OED_Editor on 15 October 2012 9.00
Tags: 19th century, Sport
Comments: 6
Bryn supplied evidence from 1914 and Glyn Hughes provided evidence of “Earl Grey’s mixture” from 1884.
This blend of tea flavoured with bergamot is said to have been popularized by Charles, the second Earl Grey (1764–1845). OED editors have found evidence for […]
Posted by OED_Editor on 11 October 2012 6.13
Tags: 1930s, Food & Drink
Comments: 18
An OED library researcher has uncovered evidence from April 1978, following a lead from Dr John Bailiff
We are looking for earlier evidence of ‘Ironman’ in the sense ‘a triathlon consisting of a 2.4-mile swim followed by a 112-mile cycle race and a full marathon’. The first example found so far is […]
Posted by OED_Editor on 8 October 2012 6.26
Tags: 1970s, Sport
Comments: 6
Garson O’Toole has supplied an example from 1955.
The famous cocktail of peach juice mixed with Prosecco or champagne is said to have been invented in Venice at Harry’s Bar in the 1930s, but named only in 1948 (in honour of the painter Giovanni Bellini, c1430–1516). Our earliest evidence […]
Posted by OED_Editor on 2 October 2012 17.38
Tags: 1960s, Food & Drink
Comments: 10