T.G.I.F... et al.

[Fred Shapiro]

On Fri, 25 Jun 1999, Larry Horn wrote:

> Speaking of phrase origins, can anyone help track down (for a colleague of
> mine) the first use(s) of the inverted exclamation "Don't I know it", used
> as a marker of corroboration?
> e.g.
>         --Published etymologies are often not to be trusted.
>         --Don't I know it!

This is listed in the OED, s.v. _know_, with a first use dated 1874.


Fred R. Shapiro                             Coeditor (with Jane Garry)
Associate Librarian for Public Services     TRIAL AND ERROR: AN OXFORD
  and Lecturer in Legal Research            ANTHOLOGY OF LEGAL STORIES
Yale Law School                             Oxford University Press, 1998
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               ISBN 0-19-509547-2