"Feets Don't Fail Me Now"

[Sam Clements]

So, using "yo stuff" as a search term, ProQuest yields, from a 1925 LA Times
comic page, a joke.

<<"Does yo' believe in dis heah auto suggestion?"
"Fo' shuah ah does."
"Cause why yo' does?"
"Last night a cop done chase me and when I says "Feet, do you' stuff'--they
did.">>

SC

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sam Clements" <SClements at NEO.RR.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2004 7:49 PM
Subject: Re: "Feets Don't Fail Me Now"


> Update.  The NYTimes obit says that his line was "feets, do your stuff."
> This was found by just searching for "feets."
>
> SC
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Fred Shapiro" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2004 7:08 PM
> Subject: "Feets Don't Fail Me Now"
>
>
> > I am trying to trace back the expression "feets, don't fail me now."
This
> > is often said to be a catchphrase of Mantan Moreland in the Charlie Chan
> > movies, but apparently that is an urban legend.  Moreland may have used
it
> > in his nightclub act.
> >
> > My home access to ProQuest Historical Newspapers is screwed up right
now.
> > Can anyone tell me the earliest occurrence of this phrase on ProQuest?
> > Also, any other insights into the history of the expression would be
> > welcome.
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
> >
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
> > Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE DICTIONARY OF
QUOTATIONS
> >   Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press,
> > Yale Law School                             forthcoming
> > e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu
http://quotationdictionary.com
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
>