JP Stapp 1956 "Murphy's Law," no coining claim

Joel S. Berson Berson at ATT.NET
Fri Nov 6 16:22:46 UTC 2009


At 11/6/2009 09:23 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>Muroc, not Murdoc.

This neophyte needs some education.  Who are
these, and how do they relate to Murphey, Stapp, or history?

Joel


>JL
>
>On Fri, Nov 6, 2009 at 8:39 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > Subject:      Re: JP Stapp 1956 "Murphy's Law," no coining claim
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > At 11/6/2009 07:08 AM, Shapiro, Fred wrote:
> > >When Nick T. Spark wrote his seemingly (but not
> > >really!) exhaustive book on the origins of
> > >"Murphy's Law," he talked with the most famous
> > >Edwards Air Force Base denizen, General Chuck
> > >Yeager.  I love Yeager's comment:  "“Look, what
> > >you’re getting into here is like a Pandora’s
> > >Box. 
 I’m a victim of the same damn thing.  I
> > >tell it the way I remember it, and that’s not
> > >the way it happened.  I go back and read a
> > >report that I did 55 years ago and I say, hmm,
> > >I’d better tell that story a little bit
> > >different.  Well, that’s human nature.  You tell
> > >it the way you believe it and that’s not
> > >necessarily the way that it happened.  There’s
> > >nothing more true than that."  What a great
> > >summary of the etymythology phenomenon!
> >
> > Or history in general.
> >
> > Joel
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
>--
>"There You Go Again...Using Reason on the Planet of the Duck-Billed
>Platypus"
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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



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