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It’s not certain yet that this is an antedating. OED editor Jesse Sheidlower calls it ‘putative’: https://twitter.com/jessesheidlower/status/643051385425108993
by dpkendal 11y ago
It’s not certain yet that this is an antedating. OED editor Jesse Sheidlower calls it ‘putative’: https://twitter.com/jessesheidlower/status/643051385425108993 https://twitter.com/jessesheidlower/status/64305138542510899... and slang lexicographer Jonathon Green concurs but finds it probable: https://twitter.com/MisterSlang/status/643060037221515264 https://twitter.com/MisterSlang/status/643060037221515264
If it is, it’s big news. But bear in mind that ‘John le Fucker’, recorded 1278, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_le_Fucker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_le_Fucker) would be a further antedating from a personal name if it were somehow to be confirmed as a use of the word.
- dalke 11y agoFWIW, the antipenultimate paragraph mentions le Fucker and its ambiguity.