In the New York Times acrostic this week, they hinted that the word was created in the 1920s in a contest to come up with a name for a particular type of criminal.
Anyone have the Straight Dope on “scofflaw”?
From the net :
I always assumed it was an older word - but it looks like you were right.
When I was doing the same acrostic, I came across several sites that claimed there was a word contest in 1923 and the prize was awarded in 1924.
http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-sco2.htm and
http://www.ardentspirits.com/archives.htm
Thanks.
I did a cursory web search and didn’t see it, but thought I’d throw it in here and see what other had to say about it.
I hope that Mr. Dale and Ms. Butler had a proper party with their winnings.
I seem to recall someone using the word in the Simpson’s prohibition episode.
What the cites don’t mention, is the fact that one of the rules of the contest said that you had to link your word to ex-President Harding’s speech about Prohibition or to the American Bar Association’s statement warning Americans about people who “disobey and scoff at this law, or any law.”
Well, let’s see…hmmmm…a word linked to that statement. Hmmm?
It’s a wonder that there weren’t hundreds of winning entries.