From: a24061@ducksburg.com   
      
   On 2024-05-15, Ross Clark wrote:   
      
   > As Crystal says, it is very rare that we can give the exact date of a   
   > word's first use. This one was made up by American humorist Gellett   
   > Burgess (1866-1951). He announced it at a dinner of the American   
   > Booksellers' Association in New York on that date, and distributed   
   > copies of a book of his published the previous year, with a spoof cover   
   > featuring the word and an example of it. Next day the NY Times reported   
   > on the dinner (and the word), which Crystal says was "the word's first   
   > public usage". The dinner was presumably by-invitation-only. But   
   > depending on what they said, there may be issues of use vs. mention   
   > here.   
      
   Does mentioning (truthfully) that someone else used a word not count   
   for lexicographers?   
      
   I had no idea the word is that old. Without looking it up, I would   
   have guessed 1950s.   
      
      
      
   > Perhaps this is why OED has no citation earlier than 1914 (a   
   > collection of Burgess's writings, where he does both.)   
   >   
   > OED's definition: "A brief descriptive paragraph or note of the contents   
   > or character of a book, printed as a commendatory advertisement, on the   
   > jacket or wrapper of a newly published book."   
      
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