"Stop digging."

[Laurence Horn]

At 9:07 AM -0400 10/11/10, Garson O'Toole wrote:
>Thanks for the additional background Jon. YBQ contains a citation for
>the phrase "Don't make waves" in the Washington Post on January 6,
>1941. It also says that the scatological joke is attested as early as
>1925 and the saying might be derived from the joke.
>
>Here is a version of "don't make waves" in 1939 that might considered
>intermediate between the joke and the unadorned saying, or it might be
>independent of the joke.
>
>1939 February 2, Palm Beach Daily News, Senator's Demand Showdown On
>President's Secret Deals With France and England, Page 1, Column 2,
>Palm Beach, Florida. (Google News Archive)
>
>Here's a little thing we learned that the boys over there might use.
>When you're in trouble

Or, as George Bush 41 might have said, in deep doo-doo

>up to your neck don't make waves.
>
>Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>  G. Legman traced the "Don't make waves!" joke at least back to the early
>>  '30s.  It was discussed here in 2004 (with a demonic hydroplane added in
>>  Wilson's 1957 hearing of it).
>>
>  > It makes me wonder if "Don't rock the boat!" comes from a version of the
>>  same story, though that advice is undoubtedly more practical.  (If you're
>>  not in hell, anyway.)
>>
>  > JL

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