that's what they pay off on

[Sam Clements]

And a 1928 LA Times football story using Proquest.

sc
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sam Clements" <SClements at NEO.RR.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Monday, November 06, 2006 2:40 PM
Subject: Re: that's what they pay off on


> George,
>
> There's a Newspaperarchive 1929 useage of the phrase, talking about
> football.
>
> Sam Clements
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "George Thompson" <george.thompson at NYU.EDU>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Monday, November 06, 2006 12:51 PM
> Subject: that's what they pay off on
>
>
>>A frequent expression of my father's was "that's what they pay off on"
>> -- meaning "that's the important thing".  I have always supposed that it
>> came from his interest in betting the horses, but checking the Proquest
>> files of historical newspapers I'm surprised to find that it occurs
>> mostly in the context of baseball; also football and prizefighting,
>> politics and tennis (once each).  I'm also surprised to see it no
>> earlier than 1933, since I've been supposing that my father's turns of
>> speech were acquired when he was young, before WWI.  The first three are
>> below; the next two came from Ed Sullivan's column of Hollywood tattle
>> (1937 & 1938); then the prizefighting story, then 5 baseball stories,
>> then a story about Nelson Rockefeller. . . .
>>
>> However, to our muttons:
>>
>> [quoting Babe Ruth:]  "My name is Ruth and always has been Ruth and
>> always will be Ruth, but some chump said it was Erhardt and everybody
>> believes it now.  Aw, what difference does it make as long as you can
>> walk up there and get your base knocks?  That's what they pay off on."
>> Just Names.  (Sports of the Times)  By JOHN KIERAN.  New York Times,
>> August 2, 1933, p. 20
>>
>> [a college football team was better] in almost every other department of
>> the game -- except the final score.  And that's what they pay off on in
>> this league.
>> BRUIN END PLAYS FULL; Spaulding Plans to Break Harris in at Ted Key's
>> Backfield Post.  JACK SINGER. Los Angeles Times, November 4, 1935. p. A9
>>
>> [quoting Ben Chapman, with reference to batting averages:] "Bucky
>> [Harris, his manager] knows, too, that that's what they pay off on when
>> they make out that new contract."
>> This Morning, WITH SHIRLEY POVICH.  The Washington Post, March 16, 1937,
>> p. 17
>>
>> The last citation (of 14) is from 1979, but the next to last was from
>> 1966.
>>
>> GAT
>>
>> George A. Thompson
>> Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
>> Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org