"Don't quit your day job" (1985)

[Laurence Horn]

At 10:24 AM +0100 6/7/05, Michael Quinion wrote:
>The British broadcaster Terry Wogan was using this back in the 1970s
>(if not earlier) as a sarcastic comment on a band whose performance
>he though inadequate. His formulation was "Don't give up the day
>job".
>
I don't remember when I first began hearing this regularly, but my
impression is that it was usually used for those who dabble in music.
(The U.S. versions usually did have the possessive rather than
definite article, as earlier cites here suggest.)

Larry