basically what I'm trying to do is locate the earliest instances of particular terms, did librarians have some arcane method to do this before computers
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Yes. Many insufferable English prof couldn't stop referencing it for that purpose.
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That said the OED is a true masterwork. Cost reflects it.
End of conversation
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Absolutely. The OED is an historical dictionary, which means it documents how words have been used in the English language. Part of that documentation is recording the earliest occurrence of each usage.
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