back - From Ulster to America
Source: From Ulster to America: The Scotch-Irish Heritage of American English
Author: Michael Montgomery
Comments: From Ulster to America recounts the lasting impact eighteenth-century settlers from Ulster have made on the development of the English language of the United States. The book documents over 500 vocabulary items contributed to American English by these ‘Scotch-Irish’ settlers. Each ‘shared’ term with its meaning is authenticated by quotations from both sides of the Atlantic. This searchable online version of his book takes its text from the dictionary part of the second edition published by the Ullans Press in 2017.
back vb To address (a letter or envelope), endorse (a document). This usage was carried over from days before envelopes, when a letter was folded and the address written on the reverse side. It was then sealed with wax or folded before being mailed. [oed back vb 12b Scottish and U.S.; snd back vb 2(4); dare back vb 3 ‘to endorse a document; especially to address an envelope or letter’ chiefly South, South Midland]
Ulst.:
1879 Lyttle Paddy McQuillan 74 The skule-mester backit the envilopes fur them.
1953 Traynor Donegal Glossary 11 = of a letter: to write the address.
U.S.:
1859 Bartlett Americanisms 2 To back a letter, is Wesstern for to ‘direct’ it.
1913 Kephart Our Sthn High 32 In the group that gathered at mail time I often was solicited to ‘back’ envelopes.
1988 Kosier Maggie 25 Sometimes they would ‘back’ letters for customers—letters were folded over and addressed on the back when there were no envelopes.
