"Once a Dodger, Always a Dodger" (1934)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Tue, 17 May 2005 15:03:57 -0400, Benjamin Zimmer
<bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU> wrote:

>-----
>_Bleak House_ (1851-53)
>You advertised that Mr. Hawdon (Captain Hawdon, if you hold to the saying
>‘Once a captain, always a captain’) was to hear of something to his
>advantage.
>http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/d/dickens/charles/d54bh/chap21.html
>-----

Here are two 18th-century examples with "captain" from Literature Online:

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Frederick Pilon, _He would be a soldier: A comedy in five acts_ (1786)
Well, if I can't be a half-pay captain I'll be a no pay captain---for once
a captain and always a captain.
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H.H. Brackenridge, _Modern Chivalry_ Part I, Volumes 1-3 (1792)
A strange idea came into the head of the Captain about this time; for, by
the bye, I had forgot to mention that having been chosen captain of a
company of militia in the neighbourhood, he had gone by the name of
captain ever since; for the rule is, once a captain, and always a captain.
-----


--Ben Zimmer