In another thread I mentioned three interesting, unrelated tidbits discovered, in my search for to antedate OED’s quotes for OED’s pomander-through-prajnaparamita section, when I came to potty and related words. Here’s the last of the three.
When we wonder where a word came from, we have to realize that it may have been in common oral usage, “in the air” so to speak, well before the first written record. An example that that brought this point home forcibly. OED’s first cite for “potty-train,” (as a verb) is from 1976.
The earliest antedate I found was 1972 classified ads of a small paper. Never before seen – and then that day it was in two separate ads, by different people – one just a few column-inches above the other! Clearly the term was already in common oral use among those who care for toddlers.
Cite: Bucks County Courier Times (Levittown, PA), Apr 5, 1972. One ad: “YOUR CHILD -- can go to nursery school even if you work. Open 7 a.m. -4 p.m. Ages 2-5. We will potty train. Full-part time. Playcare.")
I may be wrong, but I could swear my mother was using that term regarding the housebreaking of my younger siblings all through the '50's. "Toilet-training" was the formal expression, but the noun "potty" had been around for quite a while. I suspect "potty-training" was used informally. Writing was more formal in the '50's and '60's.
I checked my old "Baby and Child Care" (Benjamin Spock). He was still using formal expressions such as "toileting" and "urine control" in the '80's!This message has been edited. Last edited by: bethree5,
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I was able to take it back to 1960, which gets it close to your range. Don't know why I missed this before.
Press-Telegram, Long Beach, CA, Sept. 16, 1960, on day-care in Denmark: In return, staffs of nurses, dietitians, and teachers bathe, clothe, feed, air, "potty" train when the child Is that young,and generally pamper the child as if he were their own.
Note the quotes in the source cited by shu. That's generally a fairly good indication that the word or phrase is not in regular use, at least in writing; the author is rather self-conciously using a vernacular or slang term.
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