Pushing on a String; Big Enchilada; Play It Again, Sam

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PUSHING ON A STRING

   From the NEW YORK POST, 24 April 2001, pg. 36, col. 3:

   When the nation's first-quarter grosss domestic product report comes out next week, you will probably start hearing the phrase "pushing on a string"--meaning, the Fed is making money cheaper but it is not pushing the economy forward.  Take a piece of string and push on it--it'll go forward a little (Col. 4--ed.) but not much.

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BIG ENCHILADA

   Perhaps Art Buchwald's columns influenced John Ehrlichman when he used the phrase on March 29, 1973.

_La Enchilada_--20 May 1965 NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, pg. 23, col. 1.
_Enchilada to the Rescue_--24 August 1965, NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, pg. 19, col. 1.

   Buchwald's fictional country was Enchilada, Central America.  There are probably more than these two columns.

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PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM (again)

   From THIS WEEK magazine of the NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, "Bogey's New Boom," 8 August 1965, pg. 4, col. 2:

   Thus, in "Casablanca," when Bogart says to piano player Dooley Wilson, "Play it again, Tham," (Bogart had a pronounced lisp), everybody shouts the line right along with him.

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IT AIN'T WHATCHA GOT, BUT WHATCHA DO WITH IT

   From NEW YORK magazine in the NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, pages 28-29 ad for Helen Harper sweaters:

"It ain't whatcha got
but whatcha do with it."
     HELEN HARPER

   Right after "size doesn't matter" is usually this cliche line, "it ain't whatcha got but whatcha do with it" (not used here in a sexual context).
   And I'd think, well, what CAN you do with it?  What are we talking about, Playdoh?

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MEZEDAKIA

   From the NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, 18 July 1965, section 2, pg. 16, col. 6:

   If you want to be a Greek, drink ouzo which is licorice firewater.  And always eat while you drink.  When you order a drink, mezedakia are served automatically.  They are likely to include two snips of octopus, one olive, a slice of tomato and a shrimp.  Travelers in search of mezedakia will find them dispensed under American auspices in the beautiful Ta Nissia, the taverna of the Athens Hilton.

(OED?--ed.)

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COVER GIRL

   From the NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE (obituaries), 26 July 1965, pg. 16, col. 6:

_HIS CONOVER "COVER GIRL"_
_WON HIM FAME IN 40s, 50s_
   Harry Sayles Conover...
   In the New York of the '40s and '50s, to be a Conover "Cover Girl"--a phrase he had copyrighted--was to be a well-scrubbed all-American coed type evoking the scent of pine cones, the sound of rippling waters and the pyriform lines of Venus.

(OED has a 1915 citation, then 1944--ed.)

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FLIGHTSEEING

   From the NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, 13 July 1965, pg. 19, col. 2:

_"Flightseeing" Over New York for $5.95_
   An American Airlines jet will fly 10 experimental sightseeing trips over New York during the next two Saturdays to introduce people to what the airline calls "pleasure travel."

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FUNNY, YOU DON'T LOOK JEWISH

   I lost my citation for that!
   From the NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, WORLD TRAVEL GUIDE, 1 November 1964, pg. 19 ad for the French Government Tourist Office:

_Funny, she doesn't look French._

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THE WHOLE SIX YARDS

   From the NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, 18 August 1965, pg. 14, col. 3:

_You Start With A Six-Yard Sari_

(Yeah, I'm three yards short.  Sari--ed.)

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PERSONAL

   On Wednesday night, I'm leaving for Turkmenistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgystan, Kazakstan, and Ubekistan.
   If I don't get kidnapped by terrorists or have my plane crash or eat the wrong food, I'll be back on May 16th.