Date:    Tue, 3 Mar 1998 03:12:13 EST
<br>From:    Bapopik  Bapopik[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM 
<br>Subject: Business terms (hot potato, dead cat, copper)
<br>
<br>(Mellon Grant response went to this list by accident.  Sorry.)
<br>
<br>     THE WALL STREET JOURNAL is one publication that Peter Tamony didn't read
<br>extensively.  I don't think Jonathan Lighter has a single citation from it!
<br>     It's very easy to go through (the first page and the editorial page are
<br>the most important).  It has all the business terms from Wall Street and
<br>Washington, of course.  The headlines and subheads for the stories and
<br>editorials use the latest buzzwords.  The 90 years (up to Nexis) might seem
<br>imposing, but I can go through a year's worth in about a day, so we're talking
<br>only three months.
<br>     Here are some antedates:
<br>
<br>HOT POTATO
<br>     The RHHDAS has this from 1950.  The WSJ, 1 April 1935 (I was looking for
<br>"boondoggle"), pg. 3, col. 3, has "One of the favorite sports among the new
<br>deal agencies is 'getting rid of the hot potato' as one new dealer calls it.
<br>This is passing the buck, or putting it more bluntly, dodging
<br>responsibilities. (...)  One chic bit of 'hot potato' passing is..."
<br>
<br>STICK A FORK IN HIM--HE'S DONE
<br>     I saw this headline recently in the New York Post and posted it here.  I
<br>haven't seen it scholarly recorded.  It's not new!  The WSJ, 6 August 1957,
<br>pg. 10, col. 6, has "'He threw that last guy a nothing ball,' the catcher
<br>says, cautiously.  'Okay,' says the manager, 'Stick a fork in him.  He's
<br>done.'  The manager waves to the bullpen, and a new pitcher begins a long walk
<br>into the game. (...) --ROGER KAHN in "The American Scholar," Summer 1957
<br>
<br>MAN IN THE STREET
<br>     Was this phrase popularized by Wall Street?  The WSJ, 21 March 1935, pg.
<br>3, col. 1, has "Important Books for Men in 'The Street.'"  (This was before
<br>they had brokers who were women.)
<br>
<br>DEAD CAT
<br>     There is the famously sick "dead-cat bounce," and Safire's column last
<br>week showed an Asian version--the "dead-tiger bounce."  The WSJ, 11 March
<br>1935, pg. 1, col. 3, "Washington Letter...Dead Cat/ Speeding the Parting
<br>Guest," has "S. Clay Williams, now walking out of the NRA front door following
<br>General Johnson, is the recipient of another dead cat, the traditional gift
<br>for recovery administrators."
<br>
<br>THE BRUTAL USE OF MONEY
<br>     This is in the WSJ, 22 January 1935, pg. 2, col. 4:  "Brutal Use of
<br>Money/ WASHINGTON--For a great many years a favorite theme of politcal
<br>demagogues has been the 'vast power of great wealth.'  Often it has been their
<br>sole appeal, and a considerable number owe their places in public life to the
<br>eloquence and force with which it has been made.  A very popular phrase among
<br>them is 'the brutal use of money.'"
<br>
<br>DEPRESSION MENTALITY
<br>     A WSJ editorial, "The Depression Mentality," is on 28 March 1957, pg. 12,
<br>cols. 1-2:  "After World War II, as most people now recognize, the Government
<br>planners badly misgauged (sic) the economic future.  They expected depression;
<br>they got boom.  (...)  Imbued with what has been called the 'depression
<br>mentality'..."
<br>
<br>COPPER
<br>     The RHHDAS has this, but not from Wall Street.  I'll probably see it
<br>again.  The WSJ, 26 April 1935, pg. 4, col. 6 has "to 'copper' their
<br>operations--that is, to do the opposite."
<br>
<br>"RIGHT TO WORK" LAWS
<br>     OED has a November 1958 citation.  "'Right to Work' Laws" is the title of
<br>a WSJ editorial, 12 February 1957, pg. 10, cols. 1-2.  I'll find it even
<br>earlier.
<br>
<br>SPEED READING
<br>     OED has "speed-read" from 1960 and "speed-readers" from 1965.  A front-
<br>page WSJ article on 9 January 1957 was "Speedy Reading."
<br>
<br>SUBLIMINAL ADVERTISING
<br>    The OED has 18 September 1957.  The WSJ did a front-page article on
<br>Subliminal Projection on 13 September 1957, pg. 1, col. 4, and an editorial
<br>"Subliminal Advertising" 17 September 1957, pg. 12, col. 1.
<br>
<br>ANSWERING MACHINE
<br>     OED has "answering machine" from 1961.  The WSJ, 4 March 1957, pg. 1,
<br>col. 4, has "Automatic Answerers Sell Swiftly, Tackle New Telephone Tasks/
<br>Machines Push Movies, Food and Pepsi-Cola, Offer Aid To Anglers and
<br>Investors."  According to the article, "The automatic telephone answering set
<br>was invented back in 1938 by a tall, pipe-puffing Milwaukee bachelor named
<br>Joseph J. Zimmermann who designed it to answer unattended telephones and
<br>accordingly dubbed it the 'Electronic Secretary.'"
<br>
<br>ECONOMY CARS
<br>     A WSJ article on 10 April 1957, pg. 1, col. 1, is "Economy Cars/ Europe's
<br>Tiny Autos Face Big Test as More Makers Invade U. S."  These cars included
<br>"West Germany's Volkswagen and its beetle-like relatives."
<br>
<br>UP TICK
<br>     OED has "up tick" from 1970.  A WSJ article, 26 March 1957, pg. 1, col.
<br>4, is "New Glossary Offers 'Up Tick' Low-Down But Avoids 'Crashes'/ Stock
<br>Exchange Lexicon Pins Down Financial Jargon, Skips Some Touchy Terms."  The
<br>book, called THE LANGUAGE OF INVESTING, is not in the bibliography to Kathleen
<br>Odean's Wall Street Slang book.  A term as basic as "G.T.C." (good 'til
<br>canceled) is recorded practically nowhere.
<br>
<br>     I'll find much more.
<br>