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Re: When did "sharpshooter" enter English
Egbert White (eggwhite@earthlink.net) 2009/01/11 10:35

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From: Egbert White <eggwhite@earthlink.net>
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Subject: Re: When did "sharpshooter" enter English
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2009 09:35:44 -0800
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 On Sat, 10 Jan 2009 18:54:08 -0600, "David Sachs"
<sachs1926@comcast.new> wrote:

>Does anyone know when the word "sharpshooter" was first used in English?
>
>I found a reference to it being a translation of the German "scharfshutz"
>ca. 1802. If correct, this would debunk the story that it originated with
>the Sharpes rifle in the 1860s.

The Oxford English Dictionary has attestations for 'sharpshooter' in
the marksman sense dated 1802, 1803, 1805, 1809, and 1897.  There are
other definitions, but they are all dated 1824 or later.

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