E for Effort (1940)

[Bob Fitzke]

It seems to me that the original "E for Effort" was a government award to
defense contractors during WW II. On the other hand, my being old enough to
remember that probably brings the accuracy of my memory into the equation.

Bob
You do not reason a man out of something he was not reasoned into ---
Jonathon Swift
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wilson Gray" <hwgray at EARTHLINK.NET>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 2004 8:43 AM
Subject: Re: E for Effort (1940)


> How old are you? I'm nearly 70 and it's "E for effort" that I recall
> from my elementary-school years in the early '40's. "A for effort"
> feels like a hypercorrection, as you imply when you say that "'A' is
> easier to understand."
>
> -Wilson Gray
>
> On May 3, 2004, at 11:17 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <bjb5 at U.WASHINGTON.EDU>
> > Subject:      Re: E for Effort (1940)
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --------
> >
> > Thank you for this interesting history, Barry.
> >
> > I've heard that version, but I more commonly hear, and I use "A for
> > effort". When I hear "E", I always wonder if it's a failing grade, so
> > the
> > "A" is easier to understand.
> >
> > Benjamin Barrett
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]
> >>
> >> E FOR EFFORT--3,270 Google hits, 2,120 Google Groups hits
> >>
> >>  Who grades with this letter?
> >>  Not in OED, HDAS, CASSELL DICTIONARY OF SLANG?
> >>  Was this coined by Bing Crosby in ROAD TO SINGAPORE?
> >
>