[Ads-l] Japanese (?) proverb

[Laurence Horn]

I like the fact that the constraints on bravery-preservation have moved from “another quarter of an hour” to “five minutes longer”.  I’m waiting for the five second rule to be generalized to this case.

LH


> On Aug 27, 2018, at 2:01 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> JL's excerpt may be slightly garbled. The book by French author Henry
> de Montherlant appears to refer to "another quarter of an hour".
> 
> Year: 1962
> Book: Dream
> Author: Henry de Montherlant
> Publisher: Weidenfeld and Nicolson,
> Quote Page 85
> Database: Google Snippet View; data may be inaccurate; must be
> verified with hardcopy or scans
> 
> [Begin extracted text]
> Remembering the Japanese proverb: 'Victory belongs to him who can hold
> out another quarter of an hour,' she modified it thus: 'Victory
> belongs to him who can bear to be insulted for another quarter of an
> hour.'
> [End extracted text]
> 
> A French military manual translated into English in 1917 also refers
> to a "quarter of an hour longer". The adage below about "complete
> victory" is enclosed in quotation marks; hence, it probably was
> already in circulation. I conjecture that this remark about 15 minutes
> was derived from the family of sayings about bravery and "two/five
> minutes".
> 
> Year: 1917
> Title: Manual of the Chief of Platoon of Infantry
> Comment: This translation of the main portion of the French "Manuel du
> Chef de Section d'infanterie", Edition of January 1917, is published
> for the information of all concerned
> Publisher: Headquarters American Expeditionary Forces
> Quote Page 11
> Database: HathiTrust
> 
> https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112088069809
> https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112088069809?urlappend=%3Bseq=17
> 
> [Begin excerpt – check for typos]
> In dark hours, when discouragement appears, officers and
> non-commissioned officers act in unity in order to drive it from the
> company: they remind all that whatever happens, one must never
> despair, that there is no good reason why the enemy should not be
> quite as much reduced and depressed as anybody else, that in war,
> fortune has most sudden returns for those who do not give up and that
> a "complete victory belongs to him who can suffer one quarter of an
> hour longer than the other".
> [End excerpt]
> 
> Garson
> 
> On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 12:48 AM Mark Mandel <mark.a.mandel at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> I should hope not! What kind of structure is "another of an hour"?
>> 
>> Mark
>> 
>> 
>> On Sun, Aug 26, 2018, 9:00 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> From Peter Quennell's 1962 translation of Henry de Montherlant's 1922
>>> novel, _The Dream_ (p.85):
>>> 
>>> "Remembering the Japanese proverb: 'Victory belongs to him who can hold
>>> out another of an hour.'"
>>> 
>>> The sentiment sounds vaguely familiar, but I don't see this formulation on
>>> the Net.
>>> 
>>> JL
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
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