Too soon oldt und too late schmardt (1952)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 04:21:11 EST, Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:

>TOO SOON OLD, TOO LATE SMART
>
>Over at Wilton "Word Origins"
>(_http://pub122.ezboard.com/fwordoriginsorgfrm1_
>(http://pub122.ezboard.com/fwordoriginsorgfrm1) ),  someone asked about
>this. Is it old? Is it Swedish?
>...
>It appears to be modern mock German.
>...
>...
>_A  LINE O' TYPE OR TWO:; POPPIES FOR SOLDIERS _
>(http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=500480052&SrchMode=1&sid=4&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&
>VName=HNP&TS=1105949754&clientId=65882)
>Chicago  Daily Tribune (1872-1963). Chicago, Ill.: May 22, 1952. p. 16 (1
>page)  :
>Vy iss it dot we are too soon oldt und too late schmardt?
>Bill of Zurich Heights
[...]

Slightly earlier variants with "so" instead of "too":

Chicago Daily Tribune, Feb 17, 1949, p. 21
And we close by quoting that sign distributed by a Milwaukee brewery to so
many Chicago taverns: "Why iss it ve are so soon old, und so late
schmart?"

Deming (N.M.) Headlight, June 24, 1949, p. 10
I think it was R. J. (Bob) Mullins, of Santa Fe, the genial head of the
New Mexico Educational Association who gave me a little motto to hang up
in my office. It read: "Ve grow so oldt soon, undt yet so late shmardt."

Council Bluffs (Iowa) Nonpareil, Jan 1, 1950, p. 17
With the following quotation, credited to a Pennsylvania Dutchman we will
wish you all a very Happy New Year. "Ve get so soon old und yet so late
schmart."

Chicago Daily Tribune, Jan 6, 1950, p. A6
A sign seen by a reader in Milwaukee:
"Ve get so soon old
Und yet so late schmadt--"

Sheboygan (Wisc.) Press, June 19, 1951, p. 21
Ve Get So Soon Old Und Yet So Late Schmart. Smart people shop at McMullen.


--Ben Zimmer