[WikiEN-l] Original research or common sense inferral?

[phoebe ayers]

On 4/3/07, Daniel P. B. Smith <wikipedia2006 at dpbsmith.com> wrote:
>
> > Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2007 13:09:50 -0700
> > From: "phoebe ayers" <phoebe.wiki at gmail.com>
> >
> > A nice example :)
> >
> > Well, the OED, generally recognized as the gold standard in
> > etymology, lists
> > the first use of the term in a figurative sense ("leading to
> > disaster")  in
> > 1951: *"1951* J.
> > FLEMING<http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-f.html#j-fleming>
> > *Man who looked Back* x. 132 You go off down the slippery slope;
> > it'll do
> > you good." There are two more quotations, one from 1964 and one
> > form 1979.
> > There are of course earlier uses of the phrase but they are not
> > meant in the
> > same way. Seems to me that to really make your case based on your
> <snip>
>
> But new retrieval technology, namely Google Books, lets me do better
> than Safire.
>
> I found an 1878 reference by one Bernard O'Reilly: "It is not with
> them we are concerned: they will not be taught or reformed; so, they
> will go down the steep and slippery slope on which the heartless
> move, to perdition!"
>
> I think that's unquestionably an example of usage to mean "a course
> that leads inexorably to disaster." (Of course, I'd never draw such
> an inference; I'd just quote it and let the reader decide. The
> reference is: The Mirror of True Womanhood, A Book of Instruction for
> Women in the World, 2nd Edition, Dublin, M. H. Gill and Son,
> "Reprinted from the Thirteenth American Edition." p. 136." Actually
> the question of the year is complicated because the Google Books
> image is from an 1883 edition, but the 1883 edition says it's from
> the Thirteenth American Edition, which was published in 1878. Whether
> it was in earlier editions I don't know. But it's older than 1951 and
> by golly it's older than 1909.
>
> And I found an 1837 reference that does not actually use the phrase
> "slippery slope," but does say: "There are points where the Christian
> must always stand on guard. His danger is seldom found in gross
> offenses... but in small indulgences, and weak compliances, where
> conscience rather doubts, than condemns. These gradually draw him
> nearer and nearer to the world, till the line of separation is lost.
> Many a Christian has glided down this slope to perdition." Osler,
> Edward (1837), Church and King," Smith, Elder and Co., London, p. 13


Well, it should be pointed out that the OED* lists the first figurative use
of "slippery"  in  1586: "*1586 *
SIDNEY<http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-s2.html#sidney>
*Arcadia* III. (1605) 235 The ground he stood vpon being..slippery through
affection, he could not hold himselfe from falling into such an error."
There are several other uses of slippery in a similar meaning (figuratively
treacherous). This is slightly later than the date of 1570 given for the
first reference to "slippery," meaning unreliable, given in a book called
"English through the Ages" by one William Brohaugh (pub. 1998). I didn't
track down any more information on the etymology of slippery slope, but did
find a reference to it (in the "course leading to disaster" sense) in a 1983
"Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English".

At any rate, Google Books is nice for searching but shouldn't be considered
anything like definitive; much like Wikipedia, they are in the midst of
building their collection and are very much 'unfinished'. As we speak, they
are pulling truckloads of books out of library storage for scanning; I'd
check back and run your search again in a few months.

-- phoebe

* the online edition, which is the current revision, or what's known as the
3rd ed.