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 non-specialized or popular 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.

Please note: it is generally safe to assume that examples found by searching the Web, using search engines such as Google, will have already been considered by OED editors.

arsey (a.: irritable, arrogant)

antedate 1989

bawheid (n.: (Scottish) a person with a round face, a fool)

antedate 1985

fabbo (a.)

antedate 1984

fabby (a.)

antedate 1971

patten-sandal (n.)

postdate 1874

piecing lead (n.: (printing) a lead used to separate lines when a wide measure of type is used)

postdate 1888

pink (v.: apply rouge to the face, cheeks, etc.)

interdate 1792-1998

pink-faced (a.)

antedate 1812

pinnaclet (n.: a small pinnacle)

antedate 1905

pirnie (n.: a conical woollen nightcap)

postdate 1910

pitchable (a.)

interdate 1486-1939

pivot shears (n.)

interdate 1398-2004

planetography (n.)

interdate 1735-1960

throw one's rattle out of the pram/cot (v.: lose one's temper, throw a tantrum)

antedate 1988

throw one's toys out of the pram/cot (v.: lose one's temper, throw a tantrum)

antedate 1989

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