"So long, and thanks for all the fish!"

[Dave Wilton]

Yes, it is from Adams. IIRC the phrase first appears in his 1979 book
"Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." The material for the book also appeared
in a 1978 BBC4 radio series, but I don't know if the phrase appeared in the
radio show.

"Curiously enough, the dolphins had long known of the impending destruction
of the planet Earth and had made many attempts to alert mankind of the
danger; but most of their communications were misinterpreted as amusing
attempts to punch footballs or whistle for tidbits, so they eventually gave
up and left the Earth by their own means shortly before the Vogons arrived.

"The last ever dolphin message was misinterpreted as a surprisingly
sophisticated attempt to do a double-backwards-somersault through a hoop
whilst whistling the 'Star Sprangled Banner', but in fact the message was
this: So long and thanks for all the fish."

--Dave Wilton
  dave at wilton.net
  http://www.wilton.net


> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
> Of Bapopik at AOL.COM
> Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2005 5:47 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: "So long, and thanks for all the fish!"
>
>
> The Fulton Fish Market has moved to the Bronx. "So long, and
> thanks for all
> the fish!" is a popular headline this week.
> ..
> Does this come from Douglas Adams?
> ...
> ...
> _Amazon.com: So Long, and Thanks for All  the Fish: Books: Douglas Adams_
> (http://www.google.com/url?sa=U&start=1&q=http://www.amazon.com/ex
ec/obidos/tg/det
ail/-/0345391837?v=glance&e=912)
Amazon.com: So Long, and Thanks for All the  Fish: Books: Douglas Adams by
Douglas
Adams.
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/  tg/detail/-/0345391837?v=glance - 84k -
_Cached_
(http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:mM1LktiAJX4J:www.amazon.com/exec/obidos
/t
g/detail/-/0345391837?v=glance+"thanks+for+all+the+fish"&hl=en&start=1&ie=UT
F-
8)  - _Similar pages_
(http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=related:www.amazon.com/ex
ec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0345391837?v=glance)
...
...
_Hitchhiker rumor_
(http://groups.google.com/group/net.sf-lovers/browse_thread/thread/ac1598687
ede25ed/ca1d26e30dc0cd60?lnk=st&q="thanks+for+all+the+fish"&r
num=152#ca1d26e30dc0cd60)
Supposedly, Adams is  wearily writing a fourth book, called "So Long, and
Thanks
for  all the Fish". Can anyone confirm or deny this rumor ?  ...
_net.sf-lovers_ (http://groups.google.com/group/net.sf-lovers?lnk=sg)  - Oct
14  1983, 1:27 am by P... at CIT-20.ARPA@sri-unix.UUCP - 2 messages - 2 authors