"No one washes a rental car" (1991?, 1996)

Sat Jun 3 20:58:20 UTC 2006

At 2:28 PM -0400 6/3/06, Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
>I'm going through THE QUOTE VERIFIER (2006).
>...
>Another 1882 "Please do not shoot the organist" is below, this time from
>Texas. I love this line.
>...
>"No one washes a rental car" seems to be from a union leader in 1996, but
>what is the 1991 Google Books cite?
>...
>...

Thomas Friedman (NYT columnist) is always quoting this line in the
form "In the history of the world no one has ever washed a rented
car" (usually applied to Iraq).  He attributes it to the now
ex-President of Harvard, Larry Summers, but I have no idea where
Summers got it from or when.  It would make sense checking under
"rented car" too, in any case.

LH

>...
>(NEWSPAPERARCHIVE
>3 October 1882, Atchison (KS) Globe, pg. ?, col. 5:
>It is related that a Texas pastor posted the following notice in his  church:
>"Please do not shoot the organist; he is doing his best."
>...
>(Also Newark Daily Advocate, 16 November 1883)
>...
>...
>...
>(Google Groups)
>     _Facilitator  Assessment - Summary_
>(http://groups.google.com/group/misc.business.facilitators/browse_thread/thread/e0fd9ac638f92193/8cb2e9be9188e5b9?ln
>k=st&q="ever+washes"&rnum=86&hl=en#8cb2e9be9188e5b9)
>... one thing when it's a  volunteer group and one thing when the=20
>participants are
>primary  stockholders of a for-profit company.=20 Nobody ever washes  a
>rental ...
>_misc.business.facilitators_
>(http://groups.google.com/group/misc.business.facilitators?lnk=sg&hl=en)
>- Aug 27 1996, 11:01 am by Brock Vodden - 1 message
>- 1  author
>...
>...
>...
>(Google Books)
>_Quick Response Manufacturing - Page 494_
>(http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1563272016&id=Qk4_hHR0drUC&pg=PA494&lpg=PA494&dq="washes+a+rental+car"&ie=I
>SO-8859-1&sig=t1brvOmedAIFLkLlXf2tmCmN08A)
>by Rajan Suri -  Business & Economics - 1999 - 544 pages
>A union leader at United echoed the  sentiment, "No one washes a rental car."
>In other words, you take care  of what you own. In fact, while traditionally
>...
>...
>...
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>(Google Books)
>_Selected Crime Issues: Prevention and Punishment : Hearings  Before the
>Subcommittee on Crime and..._
>(http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0160369878&id=Di2F27k4pDMC&pg=PA535&lpg=PA535&dq="washes+a+rental+car"&ie=ISO-8859-1)
>by United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary.  Subcommittee
>on Crime and Criminal Justice -  1991 - 927 pages
>Page 535
>No preview  available - _About this  Book_
>(http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0160369878&id=Di2F27k4pDMC&dq="washes+a+rental+car"&ie=ISO-8859-1)
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org