[Ads-l] Saying: "I see, " said the blind man, as he picked up his hammer and saw.

[Andy Bach]

My thought too, luckily WikiP is on it (have to read "The Pickwick Papers"
now):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellerism

*Wellerisms*, named after sayings of Sam Weller
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Weller_(character)> in Charles Dickens
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens>'s novel *The Pickwick
Papers <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pickwick_Papers>*, make fun of
established clichés and proverbs by showing that they are wrong in certain
situations, often when taken literally.[1]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellerism#cite_note-SS1-1> In this sense,
wellerisms that include proverbs are a type of anti-proverb
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-proverb>. Typically a wellerism
consists of three parts: a proverb <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proverb>
or saying <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saying>, a speaker, and an often
humorously literal explanation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sam-weller-kyd.jpeg>
Sam Weller, from a watercolor, c. 1890.

Sam Weller's propensity to use the types of constructions now called
"wellerisms" have inspired plays; sometimes, the playwrights have created
even more wellerisms.[2]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellerism#cite_note-2>

A type of wellerism called a Tom Swifty
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swifty> incorporates a speaker
attribution that puns on the quoted statement.[1]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellerism#cite_note-SS1-1>

On Thu, Jan 3, 2019 at 9:34 AM Amy West <medievalist at w-sts.com> wrote:

> On 1/3/19 00:00, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
> > Date:    Wed, 2 Jan 2019 19:04:04 +0000
> > From:    "Shapiro, Fred"<fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> > Subject: Re: Saying: "I see," said the blind man, as he picked up his
> hammer and saw.
> >
> > There's even a name for this class of sayings (Wellerisms).
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
> Tell me more!
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 

a

Andy Bach,
afbach at gmail.com
608 658-1890 cell
608 261-5738 wk

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