"Here's looking at you," etc. (1881)

[Wilson Gray]

On Jun 30, 2005, at 4:03 PM, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU>
> Subject:      "Here's looking at you," etc. (1881)
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> "Here's looking at you, kid" from _Casablanca_ came in at #5 on the
> AFI's
> top 100 movie quotes.  HDAS has it (minus "kid") from 1884.  Here it is
> from 1881 with various other toasts and saloon-speak:
>
> -----
> _Washington Post_, Nov. 30, 1881, p. 2, col. 3
> Saloon Etiquette.
> From the San Francisco Chronicle.
> Some savant of the saloons has compiled the following catalogue of
> alcoholic passwords: _New Jersey_-- "Well, here we go!" _New York_--
> "My
> regards." _California_-- "How!" _Indiana_-- "Here's to us."
> _Washington_--
> "Here we go." _Mexico_-- "A la salud de U." (Your health.) _Illinois_--
> "Another nail in the coffin." _Ohio_-- "I hope I see you well, sir."
> _Kentucky_-- "Time." _Maine_-- "Take it sly." _Boston_-- "To the club."
> _Wisconsin_-- "Here's looking at you." _Virginia_-- "Here's hoping."
> _Pennsylvania_--"Here's to the old grudge." _North Carolina_-- "Here's
> all
> the hair off your head." _Nevada_-- "Here we jolt." _Miscellaneous_--
> "Boys, what'll you have?" "Let's go and take a ball." "Name yer pizen."
> "Gentlemen, please name your beverage." "Gentlemen, will you join me?"
> "Well, how will you take it?" "Gimme some of the old stuff." "A gin
> fizz,
> if you please." "Whisky (if you can spare it)." "Let us go and shed a
> tear." "Here's another luck." "Beer all the time-- nothing but beer."
> "Give it to me straight."

You mean to say that, "Give it to me straight[, doc. Am I gonna die?]"
did not necessarily originate as a cliche of WWII war movies? Who knew?

-Wilson Gray

>  "Good-by."
> -----
>
>
>
> --Ben Zimmer
>