Zinger: My dear, the final 't' is silent as in Harlow (1945)

[sclements at NEO.RR.COM]

A few years back I think I found a significatly earlier cite than 1945.  I sent it to Fred, but not to the list.  I don't have it at hand, but you can ask Fred for it.

Sam Clements

---- Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> An anecdote featuring Margot Asquith and Jean Harlow climaxes with a
> zinger from Asquith. The Yale Book of Quotations, the Oxford
> Dictionary of Quotations, and Cassell's Humorous Quotations each give
> a 1973 citation for the story. Here is a version of the tale in 1945:
>
> Cite: 1945 July 31, Springfield Republican, Lady Asquith, Page 6,
> Column 3, Springfield, Massachusetts. (GenealogyBank)
> [Begin excerpt]
> There was also the story, possibly apocryphal but certainly
> characteristic, of her visit to Hollywood. She was described as
> encountering a popular young screen actress of the period who insisted
> on addressing her as "Margot," ignorantly pronouncing the final
> letter. After this had happened several times Lady Asquith riposted,
> "My dear, the final 't' is silent as in Harlow."
> [End excerpt]
>
>
> Cite: 1948, Mixed Grill by Sir George Leveson Gower, [Second and
> enlarged edition 1948; first edition was 1947], Page 52, Frederick
> Muller Ltd., London. (Verified on paper)
> [Begin excerpt]
> JEAN HARLOW, a pretty young film star, was a friend of Anthony
> Asquith, who is a film producer. She asked Margot to call her "Jean",
> and presently asked whether she might call her "Margot", (rhyming to
> forgot"). "Certainly not!" "But why not? Of course I know that you are
> older than me and more important; but still - as you call me 'Jean' .
> . ." "That's not the reason." "But, then, what is it?" "Because it's
> not my name." "But I see you everywhere described so." " Yes, but not
> pronounced so. It should be 'Margo', without the 't'; just as your own
> name is 'Harlow'."
> [End excerpt]
>
>
> Cite: 1965 June 03, San Mateo Times, Lyons Den by Leonard Lyons, Page
> 32, Column 2, [GNB Page 38], San Mateo, California. (GenealogyBank)
> [Begin excerpt]
> One of the Jean Harlow legends in London is about her being introduced
> to Margot Asquith. Miss Harlow immediately starting addressing her by
> her first name, and mispronounced it as "Margott." It was, "Believe
> me, Margott," and "I tell you. Margott." The British lady resented
> this informality and said: "It's Margo. The 't' is silent — as in
> Harlow."
> [End excerpt]
>
>
> Nigel Rees, Fred Shapiro and others have mentioned the possibility
> that the anecdote was based on an encounter between Jean Harlow and a
> different Margot, i.e., Margot Grahame instead of Margot Asquith. Here
> is a relevant citation in 1995:
>
> Cite 1995: Hollywood Babble On: Stars Gossip About Stars by Boze
> Hadleigh, Page 52, Birch Lane Press Book of Carol Publishing Group,
> Secaucus, New Jersey. (Verified on paper)
> [Begin excerpt]
> If you must know, I was a platinum blond bombshell before Jean Harlow
> was. I went to Hollywood [from England], and there I met Miss Harlow.
> Now, my first name is pronounced Margo, but twice Miss Harlow
> mispronounced it Margott, with a t. I really had nothing against her,
> but I must have been irritated, for I said, "It's pronounced Margo.
> The t is silent-as in your last name...."
> -Margot Grahame
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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