"close enough for government work" 1965

[Jonathan Lighter]

Thanks, Ben.  The Google Book Genie didn't reveal this one when I summoned him an hour ago. Is it all in the wrist?

  JL

Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Benjamin Zimmer
Subject: Re: "close enough for government work" 1965
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Google Book Search has a NASA publication, _Results of the Second U.S.
Manned Orbital Space Flight, May 24, 1962_ (in snippet view, of
course). On p. 102, in what appears to be a flight transcipt, is the
line, "That's probably close enough for government work."

http://books.google.com/books?id=hBoCAAAAIAAJ

--Ben Zimmer


On Sun, Apr 27, 2008 at 3:19 PM, Jonathan Lighter
wrote:
>
> "1965" in the title is in error. "1968," as cited, is correct. Sorry.
>
> JL
>
>
> Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
>
> Subject: "close enough for government work" 1965
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I first heard this in 1973. The earliest I've found it in print is
>
> 1968 Fred MacKenzie The Men of Bastogne (N.Y.: David McKay) 189 [ref. to 1944] : [Lieut. Col.] Harry Kinnard quipped, "That's close enough for government work."
>
> JL
>
>
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