"Will it play in Peoria?"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 17:05:09 -0800, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM> wrote:

>A hearty thank you to anyone who can come up with pre-1981 printed exx. of
>the fig. phr."play in Peoria."

Attributed to John Ehrlichman in early Proquest cites:

-----
New York Times Magazine, Aug 3, 1969, p. 59
When a newsman asked him why the President had made a certain move that
had aroused criticism in Washington, Ehrlichman replied crisply: "Don't
worry. It'll play in Peoria."
-----


--Ben Zimmer