Here’s my “feedback” on the CBS memo

While others are contacting typewriter and handwriting experts, I couldn’t get the word “feedback” out of my head. Was this word really part of the American vernacular in 1972? Well, according to the Word Detective, it certainly existed in 1920 as a term used in electrical engineering.

But then the Ace of Spades blog cites the Oxford English Dictionary as noting that the word “feedback” was first used in the non-scientific context for guitar reverberation in 1971. But it’s unclear when the term first gains popularity as a term for “response.”

It seems almost moot to focus on this etymology puzzle when it’s now abundantly clear that the CBS memos are forgeries, but it’s sure fun.