Talk:pet shop

Gore quotation

@Sgconlaw: The quotation from The Débutante (1846) by Catherine Gore is the only occurrence of the word pet(s) in the novel. The OED (entry revised in 2005) provides earliest evidence for pet shop from 1927. The entry for “pet (n.1)” in the Online Etymology Dictionary similarly states, “Pet-shop "shop selling animals to be kept as pets" is from 1928.” Maybe pet in this quotation is instead the adjective, as there is no animal context? J3133 (talk) 04:16, 10 July 2024 (UTC)

@J3133: hmmm, maybe! I did wonder why the woman was keen on pets. — Sgconlaw (talk) 04:49, 10 July 2024 (UTC)

@Sgconlaw: I have added {{defdate|from 1927}} to the sense with an OED reference, and a new {{&lit}} sense, to which I moved the Gore quotation; see the quotations I added (two before 1927, one after). J3133 (talk) 05:32, 10 July 2024 (UTC)

@J3133: I’d just move the Gore quotation to pet; I don’t think a {{&lit}} sense is particularly useful here (and actually I’m not keen on such senses generally). — Sgconlaw (talk) 05:40, 10 July 2024 (UTC)

Oh, I see—you found a bunch of other quotations with this use. I thought the Gore quotation was a one-off. Guess that’s OK then. Maybe it should be labelled “dated”. — Sgconlaw (talk) 05:43, 10 July 2024 (UTC)