# When did the abbreviation "ID "enter common usage? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 23, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-abbreviation-id-enter-common-usage/705410 "2014-11-23T17:05:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bones\_Daley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@Bones\_Daley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bones_Daley)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-abbreviation-id-enter-common-usage/705410/1 "2014-11-23T17:05:55Z")
I would imagine that the first usage of “ID” would have been as insider jargon in some large metropolitan American police force, but at what point did it become commonplace for the general public to refer to “ID” instead of “identification” ? I was an avid follower of American cop shows in the sixties, but I don’t think I ever heard any of the characters using the abbreviation back then, although, of course, memory may well be playing tricks here . ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-abbreviation-id-enter-common-usage/705410/2 "2014-11-23T20:07:31Z")
The earliest citation in the OED (from what looks like a dictionary of abbreviations) is from 1955: > [@](#): > > I.D. n. identification, identity (card). > > 1955 R. J. Schwartz Compl. Dict. Abbrev. 90 Id, identification. > > 1963 T. Pynchon V. xiii. 373 Pig was understandably nervous, trying simultaneously to salute, produce ID and liberty cards. > > 1965 New Statesman 3 Dec. 880/3 ‘ID’s’…are pretty obscure to English readers as translations…of…papiers (identity documents). > > 1968 A. Diment Bang Bang Birds v. 75, I had the usual range of forged driver’s licences, ID cards, credit chits. > > 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 28 Sept. 7/1 Once inside I was forced to produce my driver’s licence, draft card, student I.D. > > 1971 Leader (Durban) 7 May 1/1 The loss of the money was not important. I am more concerned about my ID card, as I am presently applying for a house in Unit 10. > > 1972 J. Ball Five Pieces Jade ii. 21 Tibbs was politely asked for his ID. He produced his police credentials. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-abbreviation-id-enter-common-usage/705410/3 "2014-11-23T20:24:34Z")
I was born in '57 (since the cite from 1955) and I’ve always understood ID (or I.D.) as short for “identification.” It isn’t a recent usage. ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-abbreviation-id-enter-common-usage/705410/4 "2014-11-23T20:44:11Z")
Similar to **Cochrane**. I don’t ever remember a time when identification (general) was not called ID. In certain circumstances, like during a traffic stop, you’d hear “license, please.” (In the US) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-abbreviation-id-enter-common-usage/705410/5 "2014-11-23T21:17:39Z")
I’d place a bet towards it being a verb before it was a noun - that is, the OP’s cop-speak but used as in “We have yet to ID the perpetrator.” ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-abbreviation-id-enter-common-usage/705410/6 "2014-11-23T21:30:48Z")
According to N-gram viewer, it began to be used in the 1940s, rose rapidly through the 1960s, and by the late 70s, the full word “identification” startd to decline at the expense of ID. The useage in the 40s suggests that it might have started as a military shorthand. > **[Google Books Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=ID%2C%2Bidentification&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=17&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CID%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cidentification%3B%2Cc0)** > > Google Books Ngram Viewer ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-abbreviation-id-enter-common-usage/705410/7 "2014-11-23T23:10:31Z")
1941 for the noun usage. 1944 for the use as a verb. U.S. WWII. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-abbreviation-id-enter-common-usage/705410/8 "2014-11-23T23:54:24Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > According to N-gram viewer, it began to be used in the 1940s, rose rapidly through the 1960s, and by the late 70s, the full word “identification” startd to decline at the expense of ID. The useage in the 40s suggests that it might have started as a military shorthand. > > [Google Ngram Viewer: ID,identification](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=ID%2C+identification&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=17&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CID%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cidentification%3B%2Cc0) > [@samclem](#): > > 1941 for the noun usage. 1944 for the use as a verb. U.S. WWII. Which is what you’d expect, given the number of acronyms and abbreviations that entered the language from the same source at that time. The military does seem to have a fondness for both abbreviations and paperwork. The only surprise is how long it appears to have taken to become widely used in civilian life. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-abbreviation-id-enter-common-usage/705410/9 "2014-11-24T03:54:35Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > … > The only surprise is how long it appears to have taken to become widely used in civilian life. There’s a whole history of government right there, among much else. Somewhere I read about the now fantastic rareness which a British citizen before WWI interacted with his government. Any help on a source, as long as I mentioned it? ---
**Author:** ![bcullman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bcullman/32/8207_2.png) [@bcullman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bcullman)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-abbreviation-id-enter-common-usage/705410/10 "2014-11-24T04:04:09Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I was born in '57 (since the cite from 1955) and I’ve always understood ID (or I.D.) as short for “identification.” It isn’t a recent usage. Followup… Why I.D.? What the acronym? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-abbreviation-id-enter-common-usage/705410/11 "2014-11-24T04:24:54Z")
> [@bcullman](#): > > Followup… Why I.D.? What the acronym? At a guess, an initialism for “identification document” or “identity document”. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-abbreviation-id-enter-common-usage/705410/12 "2014-11-24T15:41:21Z")
> [@bcullman](#): > > Followup… Why I.D.? What the acronym? It doesn’t _have_ to be an initialism, could simply be the first two letters of “identification.” I lost my I.D. in a flood. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-abbreviation-id-enter-common-usage/705410/13 "2014-11-24T16:08:39Z")
You can’t lose your identification in a flood unless you come out of it in a coma. You can lose your identity documents, though. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-abbreviation-id-enter-common-usage/705410/14 "2014-11-24T21:59:25Z")
[Whoosh](http://www.quotes.net/mquote/2711). ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2014, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-abbreviation-id-enter-common-usage/705410/15 "2014-11-25T00:42:44Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > It doesn’t _have_ to be an initialism, could simply be the first two letters of “identification.” > > I lost my I.D. in a flood. What Nava said. ID is only ever used to refer to identity _documents_ of one kind or another. Plus, if it’s the first two letters of “identification”, why the full stop between “I” and “D”? And why would “D” be capitalised?