[Ads-l] Don't urinate on my leg...

ADSGarson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Sat Jun 11 15:49:47 UTC 2016


Here is a variant in 1957 with a different fluid.

[ref] 1957 March 6, Naugatuck Daily News, What Our Readers Think:
George McNamara Explains "Why I Am In This Race", Quote Page 8, Column
7, Naugatuck, Connecticut. (NewspaperArchive)[/ref]

[End excerpt]
These out of town politicians might know their (hogs) and their corn
cobs and be able to fool the village yokels but no one is going to
spit in my lace and tell me it's raining. I know better.
Sincerely yours,
GEORGE E. MCNAMARA
[End excerpt]


Below is an instance that was spoken on August 7, 1970. I suspect this
is a bowdlerized version (bowdlerized by the speaker; not the
transcriber).

Year: 1972
Title: Sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention, Record of
Proceedings: Verbatim transcripts: August 6, 1970 to September 3, 1970
Volume 5
Date: August 7, 1970
Speaker: Mr. Patch (Delegate Patch)
Quote Page 3774
Database: Full View in Illinois Digital Archives (Also snippet view in
Google Books)

http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/isl2/id/6263/rec/12

[Begin excerpt]
Who are we kidding? You know, there's an old saying, you know, "Don't
pour that water in my face and tell me it's raining."
[End excerpt]


There is an instance in the play "Five on the Black Hand Side". The
first copyright date of the volume in full view in GB is 1969, but a
note says that the play was revised and rewritten in 1977. There is
also a match in a GB volume with a 1973 date, so it is possible that
the phrase did appear in the 1969 play, but GB dates for plays are
highly unreliable. Verification is needed.

Year: 1969 copyright (revised and rewritten in 1977)
Title: Five on the Black Hand Side: A Play in Three Acts
Author: Charlie L. Russell
Act I
Quote Page 20

https://books.google.com/books?id=RF-Mc05XGvgC&q=raining#v=snippet&q=raining&f=false

[Begin excerpt]
GIDEON. That's because you don't understand yourself. Hey, man,
sisters are some beautiful people. Man, we can't afford to get into a
negative thing with the sisters. How are we going to survive without
strong families?

Booker T.: Tell me anything, boy. Pee on my back and tell me it's raining.
[Begin excerpt]


Here is the raw match for the play circa 1973 in GB. As noted
previously, the dates assigned to plays in GB are not reliable.

[Begin raw match data]
The American Place Theatre: Plays - Page 218
https://books.google.com/books?id=-BuyAAAAIAAJ
Richard Schotter - 1973

Hey, man, sisters are some beautiful people. Man, we can't afford to
get a negative thing with the sisters. How are we going to survive
without strong families?
Booker T.: Tell me anything, boy. Pee on my back and tell me it's raining.
[End raw match data]


Here is another raw match with a GB date of 1973.

[Begin raw match]
Alias Big Cherry: the Confessions of a Master Criminal - Page 85
https://books.google.com/books?id=G-9AAAAAIAAJ
Robert H. Adleman - 1973 - ‎Snippet view

Are you trying to spit in my face and tell me it's raining outside?"
Albert began to cry. Tears streaming down his face, he tried to tell
his story — he had used the money to pay for his sister's operation,
but Hoffman cut him off. "You take that kind
[End raw match]


On Sat, Jun 11, 2016 at 8:08 AM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Back in 1976, in the great Western _The Outlaw Josey Wales_, I noted
> the proverbial-sounding phrase, "Don't piss down my back and tell me
> it's raining." In fact, it was described in the movie as an "old
> saying."
>
> On rare occasions since then I've encountered "...on my leg..." and
> "...on my shoe..."
>
> Today on CNN an anti-Trump Republican strategist admonished a Trump
> apologist, "Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining."
>
> Which was the exact title of an outspoken social and judicial critique
> by Judge Judy (1996).
>
> Even more surprising to us old folks is  _Piss in My Face and Tell Me
> It's Raining_ (2015), by Christian feminist Tina Perry.
>
> Does anybody know if these phrases go back much  before 1976?  GB
> gives little reason to think so.
>
> JL
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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



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