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Wednesday, July 6, 2016

"Hockey mom" makes it into Oxford English Dictionary



I bet the Stonewall, Manitoba (pop. 4536) Interlake Spectator never expected it would be quoted in the Oxford English Dictionary! But there it is, in the new entry for "hockey mom" (part of the dictionary's latest quarterly update). 

Here's the earliest evidence the lexicographers found for this term:
1956 Lethbridge (Alberta) Herald 22 Feb. 7/5 (caption) Proud hockey mom... Mrs. Alice Richard beams as she holds a picture of her two famed sons, hockey stars Maurice and Henri.
followed by
1984 Stonewall (Manitoba) Interlake Spectator 9 May 22/3 To be a hockey mom..means you do everything moms do plus drive to the rink, work at the rink, and watch games and practices at the rink.
Of course, "hockey mom/hockey mother" has been in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary for almost twenty years now, along with many other "hockey" compounds that the OED hasn't got around to yet: hockey bag, hockey gloves, hockey jacket, hockey socks, hockey tape, and so on.

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1 comment:

  1. My friends and I have another definition of hockey mom: those who are moms and play hockey themselves!

    ReplyDelete