"You Want It When?"

[Charles Doyle]

Alan Dundes and Carl Pragter, in their book When You're Up
to Your Ass in Alligators: More Urban Folklore from the
Paperwork Empire (Wayne State UP, 1987), pp. 167-68, print a
version of the "classic" cartoon--four humanoid figures
rolling in laughter, with the caption "You want it WHEN?"--
collected in 1976.  Dundes and Pragter cite versions from
Great Britain (1981) and Germany (1982).

--Charlie



---- Original message ----
>Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2006 08:23:57 -0700
>From: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
>Subject: Re: "You Want It When?"
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
>---------------------- Information from the mail header ----
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>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-
L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
>Subject:      Re: "You Want It When?"
>------------------------------------------------------------
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>
>Seems to me to have started in a FedEx campaign in the '90s.
>
>  Related bumper sticker from about two years ago:
>
>  "U.S. Marines.  When it absolutely positively must be
blown up overnight."
>
>  JL
>
>"Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL> wrote:
>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header --
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>Sender: American Dialect Society
>Poster: "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC"
>Subject: "You Want It When?"
>------------------------------------------------------------
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>
>There is a cartoon with little caricature guys laughing
with the
>caption "You Want It When?". Mark Evanier discusses it in
his blog:
>
>http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2006_04_12.html#011322
>
>and wants to know its origins. Anyone on the list got a
clue about it?

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