Appeals

Words or phrases which appear on the Appeals List are those currently being drafted or revised for the OED for which the documentary evidence is incomplete. Often these are slang or colloquial items which cannot be researched in specialist texts and are most likely to be found by a general reader in popular or non-specialized literature.

Usually the appeal is for an earlier example than our current earliest (e.g. 'antedate 1970' for a word for which our earliest example comes from 1970), but sometimes the appeal is for an interdating where there is a large gap in the OED's quotation evidence (e.g. 'interdate 1589-1910'). Occasionally we ask for a postdating (e.g. 'postdate 1875'), if an editor feels that an item being revised is still current but has failed to find any recent examples through the usual avenues of research.

If you can help with any of these appeals, please send information to oed3@oup.co.uk.

do someone's head in (confuse, annoy, etc.):

antedate 1989

easy peasy:

antedate 1976

get one's head (a)round (comprehend, master):

interdate 1922-81

never-heard (adjective; as distinct from never-heard-of):

antedate 1989

nickel-and-dime (adjective):

antedate 1937

nickelize (verb):

postdate 1890

niger (noun: kind of goatskin):

postdate 1952

niplet (=nipple):

interdate 1648-1996

noddee (person nodded at):

postdate 1868

noir (noun: person with black hair):

postdate 1687

notice (noun: announcement read to a church congregation):

postdate 1967