Date:    Tue, 24 Feb 1998 10:56:08 -0600
<br>From:    Tom Head  tlh[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]NETDOOR.COM 
<br>Subject: Re: Slimed
<br>
<br>On Fri, 20 Feb 1998, Fred Shapiro wrote:
<br>
<br>  Karen Lubell asked about the political usage of _slimed_.  The earliest
<br>  occurrence yielded by a Westlaw search is an op-ed piece by David Nyhan in
<br>  the Boston Globe, Dec. 3, 1987.  Nyhan wrote, "Ted Kennedy ... knows
<br>  something about running for president, and even more about getting slimed
<br>  by the press."
<br> 
<br>  The second earliest occurrence I can find is in U.S. News & World Report,
<br>  June 20, 1988:  "If [House Speaker Jim] Wright were a ghostbuster, he'd
<br>  say he's been slimed.  But as the new sleaze pinup for the GOP, he can't
<br>  say much of anything."
<br>
<br>Would this mean that the word actually came from _Ghostbusters_ (1985)?
<br>I'd always thought the movie got it from another source.
<br>
<br>
<br>Peace be with you,
<br>
<br>Tom Head
<br>http://www2.netdoor.com/~tlh
<br>
<br>"I have associated and studied with the 'objective observers' and am
<br>convinced that, for all their virtues, they invariably miss the point
<br>and eat the menu instead of the dinner."
<br>                                        -- Alan Watts
<br>