"There's a sucker born every minute" (1883)

[Baker, John]

        Here's a surprising suggestion that the "born every minute" adage may have originated in England.  This is from an 1894 opinion of the Appellate Court of Illinois.  Unfortunately, the opinion's author failed to give his source for the quotation.  Perhaps Fred Shapiro can check the online services for English cases, although I suppose the source is as likely to be a newspaper report or a memoir as a published opinion.  It is also possible that the eleven years between the 1883 cites that Barry found and the 1894 opinion would have allowed time for the saying to travel from the U.S. to England and back.

        << An English judge expressing his surprise that people could be taken in by such simple devices as a witness, a jockey, described, was answered by the jockey: "My lord, there is a fool born every minute, and, thank God, most of them live.">>

Tolman v. Murray, 54 Ill.App. 420 (1894).


John Baker


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Subject: "There's a sucker born every minute" (1883)


http://www.barrypopik.com/article/946/theres-a-sucker-born-every-minute-ny-gambler-slang-but-not-p-t-barnum
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Anyone have anything? I now have THREE 1883 "sucker" cites. Also, try "fool" and "second" and "minute" and "day."
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The Cardiff Giant "Hannum" reputed origin doesn't check out with a single citation.
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Also, Chicago's Michael Cassius McDonald doesn't seem to check out iwth a single citation, either.