# Who first said "On the Air?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 1, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-first-said-on-the-air/315135 "2005-08-01T14:25:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-first-said-on-the-air/315135/1 "2005-08-01T14:25:29Z")
It seems logical that the phrase, “On the air” wasn’t created until after radio broadcasting. “You’re on” was probably used in the stage community for many years but when did people start adding “the air” to it? I remember hearing early radio recordings where the announcer referred to his words and/or voice “going out through the air” but I don’t know just how old the recordings were and besides it seems like such an obvious, if poetic, phrasing that it might well have been used by Marconi himself. I wonder if Marconi coined the term “broadcasting?” Websters New Collegiate Dictionary doesn’t say. There were a whole bunch of broadcasting terms that I meant to ask about. But of course I can’t remember them right now. I’ll post as they occur to me. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-first-said-on-the-air/315135/2 "2005-08-02T00:15:44Z")
Just to get you started, the term “on the air” to refer to radio can be found in the newspapers as early as 1922. The term “broadcast” first shows up in print in that same year. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-first-said-on-the-air/315135/3 "2005-08-02T14:09:44Z")
Thank you, Sir. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-first-said-on-the-air/315135/4 "2005-08-02T15:32:26Z")
IIRC, the term _broadcast_ originally meant a mechanical method for spreading manure. Wait a minute, that’s still true… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-first-said-on-the-air/315135/5 "2005-08-02T16:21:21Z")
Actually, it goes farther back than that. In biblical times it referred to the commonly used method of sowing seeds, where the person would walk through the field and spread seeds by hand. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-first-said-on-the-air/315135/6 "2005-08-02T17:12:24Z")
Yes, I saw the other meanings of broadcast in the dictionary. Somehow, I doubt the radio term broadcasting came from the agricultural term, but what do I know? ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-first-said-on-the-air/315135/7 "2005-08-02T19:00:55Z")
To sow by scattering in all directions? The ag term could very well have led to the radio term. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-first-said-on-the-air/315135/8 "2005-08-02T19:10:23Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > IIRC, the term _broadcast_ originally meant a mechanical method for spreading manure. I thought _broadcast_ referred to the method of spreading Plaster of Paris over the body of a naked woman. Well…it should. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-first-said-on-the-air/315135/9 "2005-08-02T19:18:29Z")
> [@Doug Bowe](#): > > To sow by scattering in all directions? The ag term could very well have led to the radio term. The ag term did come first. > **[b | Search Online Etymology Dictionary](https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=b&page=18)** > > The online etymology dictionary (etymonline) is the internet's go-to source for quick and reliable accounts of the origin and history of English words, phrases, and idioms. It is professional enough to satisfy academic standards, but accessible... “Broadcast, originally “scattering seed” (1767), applied to radio waves 1921.”