# What came first.......?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first/134820>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [November 1, 2002, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first/134820 "2002-11-01T09:11:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first/134820/1 "2002-11-01T09:11:11Z")

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Dunno if this has been done before, but here goes anyways…

**Sloth**

…the name (of the animal) or the word?

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**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first/134820/2 "2002-11-01T09:22:33Z")

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Looks to me like the word came first. From [www.m-w.com](http://www.m-w.com):

> [@](#):
>
> ain Entry: sloth  
> Pronunciation: 'sloth, 'släth also 'slOth  
> Function: noun  
> Inflected Form(s): plural sloths /with ths or [th]z/  
> Etymology: Middle English slouthe, from slow slow  
> Date: 12th century  
> 1 a : disinclination to action or labor : INDOLENCE b : spiritual apathy and inactivity \<the deadly sin of sloth\>  
> 2 : any of the slow-moving arboreal edentate mammals that comprise two genera (Bradypus and Choloepus), inhabit tropical forests of So. and Central America, hang from the branches back downward, and feed on leaves, shoots, and fruits – compare THREE-TOED SLOTH, TWO-TOED SLOTH

The entry under THREE-TOED SLOTH gives a date of 1879, and TWO-TOED SLOTH gives 1781. There’s also an entry for GROUND SLOTH which gives a date of 1860.

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2002, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first/134820/3 "2002-11-03T00:11:06Z")

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Not to mention the “slothy tives.”

Whoops! I said I wouldn’t mention them. Sorry.  
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…'tain’t often you get to imply Lewis Carroll and William Spooner in two words.

–Nott

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**Author:** ![TVGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/82dd89/32.png) [@TVGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVGuy)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2002, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-came-first/134820/4 "2002-11-03T00:21:25Z")

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Gee, I thought we were going to be discussing Gallus domesticus and it’s ovum.

(OK, wiseass going back in to woodwork now…)