January 26, 2014

"I Hope, Sir, that we are not mutually Un-friended by this Difference which hath happened betwixt us."

The earliest use of the seemingly recent verb "unfriend" was found by the Oxford English Dictionary way back in 1659 (in T. Fuller Let. P. Heylyn in Appeal Injured Innoc. iii).

Noted in "Language by the Book, but the Book Is Evolving/O.E.D.’s New Chief Editor Speaks of Its Future."
Posted by Ann Althouse at 11:18 AM
Tags: , ,

2 comments:

rehajm said...

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see thyne selfie,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

- William Shakespeare

1/26/14, 1:08 PM
Paddy O said...

At first I thought Sir Archy had made a reappearance and was commenting on commenting events of the last year.

1/26/14, 6:46 PM

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