"as good as it gets"

[Fred Shapiro]

On Tue, 18 Mar 2003, mark worden wrote:

> First occurrence in 1997 screenplay, by Mark Andrus and James L. Brooks,
> screenplay , As Good as It Gets.

Is this posting an attempt to anticipate my next movie-related
phraseological question?  If so, it is misguided, as I would not have
thought of the 1997 film as a possible first occurrence.  Clearly the
phrase is much older than 1997.

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
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