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Origin and history of cablese

cablese(n.)

"shorthand used by journalists in cablegrams," 1916, from cable in the telegraphic sense + -ese as a language-name suffix. "Since cablegrams had to be paid for by the word and even press rates were expensive the practice was to affix Latin prefixes and suffixes to make one word do the work of several" [Daniel Schorr], such as exLondon and Londonward to mean "from London," "to London" (non-Latin affixes also were used). Hence the tale, famous in the lore of the United Press International, of the distinguished but harried foreign correspondent who reached his breaking point and wired headquarters UPSTICK JOB ASSWARD. Its economy and expressive power fascinated Hemingway in his newspapering days.

also from 1916

Entries linking to cablese

cable(n.)

c. 1200, "large, strong rope or chain used on a ship," from Old North French cable, from Medieval Latin capulum "lasso, rope, halter for cattle," from Latin capere "to take, seize," from PIE root *kap- "to grasp."

Technically, in nautical use, a rope 10 or more inches around, to hold the ship when at anchor; in non-nautical use, a rope of wire (not hemp or fiber). It was given a new range of senses in 19c. in telegraphy (1850s), traction-railroads (1880s), etc. The meaning "message received by telegraphic cable" is from 1883, short for cable message (1870), cablegram (1868), cable dispatch (1864). Cable television is attested by 1963; shortened form cable in this sense is from 1970.

Speed, speed the Cable; let it run,
  A loving girdle round the earth,
Till all the nations 'neath the sun
  Shall be as brothers at one hearth;
[T. Buchanan Read, "The Cable," 1858]
telegraphese(n.)

"severely condensed form of English (omitting articles, pronouns, auxiliary verbs, etc.) used to save expenses in writing telegraphs," which charged by the word, 1885, from telegraph (n.) + -ese. In early use sometimes also in jocular reference to the writing style in the London "Daily Telegraph," which was rather the reverse. Also compare cablese.

-ese

word-forming element, from Old French -eis (Modern French -ois, -ais), from Vulgar Latin, from Latin -ensem, -ensis "belonging to" or "originating in."

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    c. 1300, from Old English genog "sufficient in quantity or number," from Proto-Germanic compound *ganog "sufficient" (source also of Old Saxon ginog, Old Frisian enoch, Dutch genoeg, Old High German ginuog, German genug, Old Norse gnogr, Gothic ganohs). First element is Old Engli
    godspeed
    also God speed, by late 14c., "(I wish that) God (may) grant you success," from God + speed (v.) in its old sense of "prosper, grow rich, succeed." Specifically as a salutation by mid-15c. Also in Middle English as an adverb, "quickly, speedily" (early 14c.); the then-identically
    honest
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    coach
    1550s, "large kind of four-wheeled, covered carriage," from French coche (16c.), from German kotsche, from Hungarian kocsi (szekér) "(carriage) of Kocs," village where it was first made. In Hungary, the thing and the name for it date from 15c., and forms are found since 16c. in m
    reason
    c. 1200, resoun, "the intellectual faculty that adopts actions to ends," also "statement in an argument, statement of explanation or justification," from Anglo-French resoun, Old French raison "course; matter; subject; language, speech; thought, opinion," from Latin rationem (nom
    smorgasbord
    1893, from Swedish smörgåsbord, literally "butter-goose table," from smörgås, "slice of bread and butter," compounded from smör "butter" (see smear (n.)) and gås, literally "goose" (and from the same Germanic root that yielded English goose (n.)). [Smörgås] properly signifies "a
    counterfeit
    c. 1300, countrefeten, "pretend to be," from countrefet (adj.), Old French contrefait "imitated" (Modern French contrefait), past participle of contrefaire "imitate," from contre- "against" (see contra-) + faire "to make, to do" (from Latin facere "to make, do," from PIE root *dh
    eerie
    also eery, c. 1300, "timid, affected by superstitious fear," north England and Scottish variant of Old English earg "cowardly, fearful, wretched; slow, indolent, useless," from Proto-Germanic *arh- (source also of Old Frisian erg "evil, bad," Middle Dutch arch "bad," Dutch arg, O
    constipation
    c. 1400, "costiveness, bowel condition in which evacuations are obstructed or difficult" (more fully, constipacioun of þe wombe), from Late Latin constipationem (nominative constipatio), noun of state from past-participle stem of Latin constipare "to press or crowd together," fro
    function
    1530s, "one's proper work or purpose; power of acting in a specific proper way," from French fonction (16c.) and directly from Latin functionem (nominative functio) "a performance, an execution," noun of action from funct-, past-participle stem of fungi "perform, execute, dischar

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