Broke as a joke

[Wilson Gray]

Personally, I prefer "broker than the Ten Commandments."

-Wilson

On 8/19/05, Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at rci.rutgers.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Broke as a joke
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Fri, 19 Aug 2005 17:34:33 -0400, bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
>
> >BROKE AS A JOKE--4,900 Google hits, 224 Google Groups hits
> >...
> >I've been asking for campaign donations. "I'm broke as a joke," said one
> >person at work. That's how it's been.
>
> This expression shows up frequently in the writings of the black lesbian
> author Red Jordan Arobateau. Reprints of her work from the '70s are
> searchable on Amazon.
>
> _The Great Heart Bank Robbery_, Red Jordan Arobateau (1975, 1993), p. 128
> Yea man, you and me both. I'm broke as a joke.
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0970323727/
>
> _Ho Stroll_, Red Jordan Arobateau (1975, 1994), p. 237
> Tippie came in & sat down. "I'm broke as a joke." Said she.
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0970323751/
>
> _Suzie-Q_, Red Jordan Arobateau (1977, 1993), p. 217
> She was embarassed. Broke as a joke.
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0970323786/
>
>
> --Ben Zimmer
>


--
-Wilson Gray