That's all she wrote antedatings

Fri Mar 4 13:54:24 UTC 2011

To hedge my bet, I should have said "makes it *seem* very unlikely."

JL

On Fri, Mar 4, 2011 at 8:53 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

> A documented 1942 currency, in civilian contexts, makes it very unlikely
> that the phrase was inspired - as is often said - by the "Dear John letter."
>
> I did not find either expression in print - alone or in combination -
> before 1945 or so.
>
> JL
>
> On Fri, Mar 4, 2011 at 7:11 AM, Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: That's all she wrote antedatings
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Michael, Here are some citations with solid 1942 dates from ProQuest
>> Historical Newspapers. All three were written by Lucius (Melancholy)
>> Jones in the Atlanta Daily World. I searched for "that was all she
>> wrote" in addition to "that's all she wrote".
>>
>> Cite: 1942 June 29, Atlanta Daily World, Sports Slants by Lucius
>> (Melancholy) Jones, Page 5, Atlanta, Georgia. (ProQuest)
>>
>> "Coot" inquires about Jimmie and Juanita Perry—and his other numerous
>> friends and opines that the old "Avenue" (Auburn) must still be going
>> strong. He asks what of Top Hat and says that, out in Cheyenne, he
>> gets a chance to take a gander at. some goodlookers of the Mexican and
>> Japanese variety—but implies that "that's all she wrote," because army
>> life just about restricts an ambitious young soldier to routine and
>> maneuvers.
>>
>>
>> Cite: 1942 August 23, Atlanta Daily World, Sports Slants by Lucius
>> (Melancholy) Jones, Page 8, Atlanta, Georgia. (ProQuest)
>>
>> But, undisturbed, Smokey Joe Williams reared way back and fired in
>> that lightning fast ball. Nine straight strikes whistled past the
>> three dangerous batsmen—and that was "all she wrote."
>>
>>
>> Cite: 1942 August 23, Atlanta Daily World, Josh Gibson, Sam Bankhead,
>> Willie Wells, Leon Day Get Pittsburgh Pirates Tryouts by Lucius Jones,
>> Page 8, Atlanta, Georgia. (ProQuest)
>>
>> Day struck out O'Neill of the Monarchs, Arthur Pennington of the
>> Chicago American Giants, and Floyd (Bear Man) Davenport of Birmingham.
>> That was "all she wrote" for the West sluggers.
>>
>>
>> The libraries I have access to have American Mercury but not in 1942.
>> Date probes yield the following (you may already know this):
>>
>> Page 130 approx start for 1942 February issue
>> Page 258 approx start for 1942 March issue
>> Page 386 approx start for 1942 April issue
>>
>> The matching page for the phrase is 425 according to Google Books so
>> there is a chance the match is in the April 1942 issue and that would
>> antedate the three citations above.
>>
>> Garson
>>
>> On Fri, Mar 4, 2011 at 4:50 AM, Michael Quinion
>> <wordseditor at worldwidewords.org> wrote:
>> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> > Poster:       Michael Quinion <wordseditor at WORLDWIDEWORDS.ORG>
>> > Organization: World Wide Words
>> > Subject:      That's all she wrote antedatings
>> >
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >
>> > Last week in World Wide Words I discussed "that's all she wrote". A
>> > reader, Michael Templeton, has found two citations that appear to
>> antedate
>> > it to 1942. Might somebody with better research facilities be able to
>> > confirm or deny these or provide more information?
>> >
>> > The first, via Google Books, is this
>> >
>> >  "That's all she wrote!" gleefully called out a fan, before
>> >  crossing the pit to collect a fifty-dollar bet.
>> >  [American Mercury, Vol 54, p425, 1942. Snippet view only. In
>> >  a story about a cockfight. The year seems to check out from
>> >  internal date searches but confirmation and issue date needed.
>> >  See http://bit.ly/g77q1a]
>> >
>> > The other is the title of a song. In a post back in 2004 Ben Zimmer
>> quoted
>> > one said to be by Jerry Fuller in 1950, an attribution which is widely
>> > given online.
>> >
>> >  Now I woke up this morning a quarter past three
>> >  I just couldn't realize this could happen to me
>> >  That's all she wrote...
>> >
>> > As Jerry Fuller was 12 in 1950, his authorship seems improbable. Michael
>> > Templeton points out that this is also widely attributed to the Texas
>> > Troubadour, Ernest Tubb.
>> >
>> > A song of this title appeared in Ernest Tubb Favorites: Radio Songbook
>> No.
>> > 3. (WSM Grand Ole Opry Edition). Ernest Tubb Publications. Nashville,
>> > Tenn. 1943. [Southern Folklife Collection catalogue
>> http://bit.ly/eAeukJ]
>> >
>> > A song of the same title, presumably the same one, appeared in The
>> Ernest
>> > Tubb Song Folio of Sensational Successes. No.2, Hollywood, CA: American
>> > Music Inc., 1942. An image of the cover is available via Amazon.com
>> > (http://amzn.to/giIekA) which has the song title in the middle of the
>> > right-hand side of the page. Its presence, and the date, is supported by
>> a
>> > catalogue reference here: http://bit.ly/cZnmpH
>> >
>> > --
>> > Michael Quinion
>> > Editor, World Wide Words
>> > Web: http://www.worldwidewords.org
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> >
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> 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."
>

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