Horeshoes & Handgrenades ("almost" doesn't count,except for...)

[Arnold Zwicky]

of course it's got to be older than 1975.  the ferejohn & fiorina
title is pretty clearly a spinoff expression, one that assumes
an earlier "close doesn't count" as common currency (actually,
it probably assumes an earlier "close doesn't count except in
horseshoes and...").

i could call ferejohn up and ask him what he recalls about
the expression.  (he's an acquaintance and a stanford colleague.)

oh, and when was the heyday of horseshoes as a recreational
activity?

arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)