On 1 Jul 2012 at 14:36, Christopher Green wrote: Looks like it might be even older than that, Paul. "Rat race" makes appearances in English as far back as the mid-1860s, but it has its first spike on popularity around 1902. -------------------
The great OED (Oxford English Dictionary) cites 1783 for its earliest known use of the term, where it is used in the rare sense of an actual race between rats. The entry is: "1783 W. Jackson 30 Lett. Var. Subj. II. xxi. 40 The first time I was at a [horse-racing] course, it appeared but as a rat-race." They cite another early use of the term as air force slang for a fight or race between planes: "1931 N.Y. Times 1 Sept. 8 They did the snake dance, or rat race as it is sometimes called, and they ended with their four-direction bombing attack." And the earliest they cite for its current use (which they define in part as "urban working life regarded as an unremitting struggle for wealth, status, etc") is a 1937 entry, followed by a clearer 1938 one. "1937 Nebraska State Jrnl. 22 Dec. 9/5 (heading) Cage game [sc. basketball] called `rat race´ under new rules. 1938 Monessen (Pa.) Daily Independent 20 June 4/2 They are trying to make possible conditions under which politics may exist as a career instead of a rat-race." ..and the topic reminds me of the satisfying joke: Question; Why are psychologists switching to running lawyers rather than rats? Answer: Because there are some things that even rats won't do. Stephen -------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada e-mail: sblack at ubishops.ca --------------------------------------------- --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=18814 or send a blank email to leave-18814-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
