[Ads-l] Wham, bam, thank you, ma'am

ADSGarson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Sat May 9 12:53:23 UTC 2020


The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
(2006) pointed to an unambiguous instance of the modern sexual sense
in a 1957 novel by Max Shulman which is available in preview mode in
Google Books.

Date 2016 (1957 Copyright)
Novel: Rally Round the Flag, Boys!
Author: Max Shulman
Unnumbered Page
Publisher: Open Road Media, New York
Database: Google Books Preview

[Begin excerpt]
“Now tell me, after I came downstairs in this diaphanous wrapper, what
was your plot—to hop in bed with me, hop right out again, and get home
before Grace does? Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am?”
“Something like that,” he mumbled.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sat, May 9, 2020 at 8:35 AM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> The phrase "WHAM! BAM! THANK YOU MAM!" appeared July 1941 at the top
> of an advertisement for a drugstore that was printed in an Amarillo,
> Texas newspaper. The drugstore was, apparently, thanking their
> customers for the rapid increase in business; hence, there was a
> non-sexual rationale for employing the phrase.
>
> Date: July 2, 1941
> Newspaper: The Amarillo Globe-Times
> Newspaper Location: Amarillo, Texas
> Article: (Advertisement for Post Office Drug Store)
> Quote Page 3, Column 1
> Database: Newspapers.com
> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50563934/wambam/
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> WHAM! BAM!
> THANK YOU MAM
> The tremendous increase in our business is making it possible
> for us  to give you still better prices.
> . . .
> POST OFFICE
> DRUG STORE
> [End excerpt]
>

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