[Ads-l] Not So Shaggy, 1919

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The unfunny shaggy dog joke with the punchline "not so shaggy" was
circulating by 1906, I think. "The Denver Post" of Denver, Colorado
has an article that appears to be a meta-joke about the shaggy dog
joke back on January 8, 1906.

I will post the article after I extract the text.

Garson


On Mon, Aug 10, 2015 at 6:57 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Not So Shaggy, 1919
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> OED under shaggy adj. cites a May, 1937 Esquire article, "Don't Laugh Now" =
> by J. C. Furnas   "56/1   One of the more sporting ways of finding out whic=
> h ones are not [sane] is to try shaggy-dog stories on them." The article co=
> ntinues on pages 236 and 237. It suggests that dogs may not be the original=
>  animal in this story genre. It does give a story of a New Yorker who takes=
>  a ship to England in response to a lost dog notice, ending: "Oh," says the=
>  Englishman coldly, "not so damn shaggy" and slams the door in the American=
> 's face.
> The 1919 headline "NOT SO SHAGGY" may be related.
>
> Stephen
>
> ________________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Stephe=
> n Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
> Sent: Friday, August 7, 2015 10:26 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: [ADS-L] Not So Shaggy, 1919
>
> Maybe related to shaggy dog stories (OED has 1937 for such stories/yarns)--=
> or not. "Bear yarn*"? Or if not, maybe so.
>
>
> "NOT SO SHAGGY" is the section headline--of the final section--under "SPORT=
> OGRAPHS by Frank H. Frawley."
>
> [The entire section text:]
>
> Denver has it that C. C. will try to get Ogden Verner and Garside in footba=
> ll togs because of the fact that Chuck Schneider of the Mines was reinstate=
> d. "Stub" Davis, a Denver paper said, would also get into the harness. This=
>  is all a good pipe dream, but the Tigers haven't thought anything about it=
> . Davis is married and is a commissioned officer in the regular army. Verne=
> r and Garside are engaged in other occupations and could not be here. But, =
> then, a bear yarn is a bear yarn. Those yarns emanating from Denver seem to=
>  be extra sensational.
>
>
> Colorado Springs Gazette. Oct. 22, 1919, p. 8, col. 1.
>
>
> Stephen Goranson
>
> http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/
>
> <http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/>
>
> * Exempli gratia:
>
> Field and Stream, April 1, 1911, p.499, col. 2 [GB]
>
> "He had made the camp tired with his bear yarns,..."
>
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