"Dish It Out But Can't Take It"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Of course that should be "G1 . . . take it." . . .

JL

On Sat, Jul 17, 2010 at 1:04 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

> Fred D. Paisley has, "He can dish it out but he can't take it," in his 1930
> bio _Al Capone_. (See HDAS).
>
> But the movie, based on W. R. Burnett's novel, unquestionably popularized
> it.
>
> Even "dish it out" alone in the sense of "deal out punishment" is nearly
> non-existent before 1931. Earliest:
>
> 1929  _Chicago Tribune_ (Feb. 17) G1 [ProQuest]:  "Johnny [Torrio]," says
> Moses Lamson [a crime reporter], who thoroughly understands the man, "is
> like a lot of fighters in the ring - they can dish it out but they can't
> take."  Ibid.  G4: The security of a jail seemed sweet to the man who could
> "dish it out but not take it."
>
>
> JL
>   On Sat, Jul 17, 2010 at 11:51 AM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
>> Subject:      "Dish It Out But Can't Take It"
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> I came across a claim that the expression "you/he/she can dish it out but
>> you/he/she can't take it" originated in the film Little Caesar (1931).
>>  Internet Movie Database has this "repeated line" from that film:
>>
>> Caesar Enrico Bandello: You can dish it out, but you got so you can't take
>> it no more.
>>
>> Can anyone help me determine whether the film in fact originated or
>> popularized the expression?
>>
>> Fred Shapiro
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>



--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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