[Ads-l] "[Blank] Quarterback" - Second-guessing

[Ben Zimmer]

Interesting convergence of idioms here... "drugstore" from "drugstore
cowboy," "armchair" from "armchair critic/strategist/general" (all of these
"armchair" roles, including QB, are now in OED3 online). But it looks like
there's no such thing as a "shade-tree quarterback," on the model of
"shade-tree mechanic."

On Wed, Dec 7, 2016 at 3:56 PM, Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:

>
> I heard the expression "armchair quarterback" the other day, prompting me
> to take a second look.  There are at least four "[blank] quarterback"
> idioms that antedate "Monday morning quarterback," and more than a dozen
> that followed it.
>
>
> The earliest ones are:
>
>
> "Grandstand quarterback," "As Joe Williams Sees It," Pittsburgh Press,
> October 17, 1927, page 31.
>
>
> "Cigar store quarterback" (one example), Rochester Democrat and Chronicle,
> October 22, 1927, page 9.
>
>
> "Sunday morning quarterback," Knute Rockne's syndicated column, Des Moines
> Register, September 28, 1928, page 12.
>
>
> "Drugstore quarterback" (perhaps influenced by the earlier "drugstore
> cowboy"), Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, November 22, 1931, page 13.
>
>
> "Sunday morning quarterback" appeared in print only sporadically before
> "Monday morning quarterback."   "Monday morning quarterback" immediately
> became the most common one after it first appeared in print, although
> "Sunday morning" appeared more frequently thereafter as well.  "Grandstand
> quarterback" was more common than "Sunday morning quarterback" before and
> after "Monday morning quarterback."
>
>
> Later variants include: armchair, bleacher, radio, parlor, easy chair,
> soda fountain, day-after, living room, television (or TV), beer parlor and
> beer garden quarterbacks, although a few of them only show up one or a few
> times.  "Armchair", "bleacher," "drugstore" and "television" return a
> significant number of hits over a long period of time.
>
>
> My post: http://esnpc.blogspot.com/2016/12/grandstands-armchairs-
> and-drugstores.html
>

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