"Death is nature's way of saying 'howdy'" (1983? anonymous?)

[Wilson Gray]

Back in the 'Fifties, there was a well-known graffito that read:

"Death is nature's way of telling you to slow down."

Back in the 'Forties, Dr. Bengué's Pain Ointment used the slogan:

"Pain is nature's way of telling you to slow down."

>From Google:

"From (if I remember correctly) an ad for a patent medicine that
became Ben-Gay: 'pain is nature's way of telling you to slow down.'

<martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?page=3&t=40544>

-Wilson

On 8/26/07, Barry Popik <bapopik at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Barry Popik <bapopik at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      "Death is nature's way of saying 'howdy'" (1983? anonymous?)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> DEATH IS NATURE'S WAY OF SAYING--7,450 Google hits
> DEATH IS NATURE'S WAY OF TELLING YOU--4,740 Google hits
> NATURE'S WAY OF SAYING HOWDY--375 Google hits
> ...
> Supposedly, Woody Allen said: "Death is nature's way of saying 'slow down.'"
> ...
> Supposedly, Robin Williams said: "Death is nature's way of saying 'your
> table's ready.'"
> ...
> "Anonymous" is credited for: "Death is nature's way of saying 'howdy.'"
> ...
> Is the last one from Texas? There's a 1983 book in Google Books, but I can't
> search it. Does Fred have it handy?
> ...
> ...
> ...
> (GOOGLE BOOKS)
>  The 637 Best Things Anybody Ever
> Said<http://books.google.com/books?id=nDaYyBdPZWoC&pg=PA87&dq=death+%22way+of+saying+howdy%22&ei=5zLSRuPNKpOK7ALr9MGuAQ&ie=ISO-8859-1>by
> Robert Byrne - Reference - 1983
> Page 87
> ...
> ...
> (GOOGLE GROUPS)
>  Newsgroups: *comp.home.automation*
> From: *David Reno
> <dav...<http://groups.google.com/groups/unlock?msg=6b265a1e0e674081&hl=en&_done=/group/comp.home.automation/browse_thread/thread/2d2af30e7cbe3cee/6b265a1e0e674081%3Flnk%3Dst%26q%3D%2522nature%27s%2Bway%2Bof%2Bsaying%2Bhowdy%2522%26rnum%3D185%26hl%3Den>
> @stlukes.com>*
> Date: *1996/01/08*
> Subject: *Need info on thermostat wires*
>
> Death is *nature's way of saying `Howdy*'.
> ...
> ...
> (GOOGLE BOOKS)
> <i>The Complete Idiot's Guide to Law for Small Business Owners</i>
> by Stephen M. Maple
> Alpha Books
> 2000
> Pg. 184:
> "Death is nature's way of saying Howdy."
> --Anonymous
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
                                              -Sam'l Clemens

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