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.

nickable (adj.: stealable):

antedate 1989

nippie sweetie (noun: drink of spirits; sharp-tongued person):

antedate 1985

nippie sweetie (noun: sharp-tasting sweet):

antedate 1987

ooyah! (int.: expressing pain):

antedate 1959

open (verb: to perform before the main act or event; as in 'the new band were signed to open for the Beach Boys'):

antedate 1969

overcast (noun: in shipbuilding):

any evidence (other than for the expression overcast staff)

overmourn (verb: mourn excessively):

interdate 1650-1998

overshot (adj: drunk):

postdate 1942

overtop (prep.: over the top of):

antedate 1978

patio rose (noun: miniature variety of rose):

antedate 1981

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