that's what they pay off on

[Sam Clements]

George,

There's a Newspaperarchive 1929 useage of the phrase, talking about
football.

Sam Clements

----- Original Message -----
From: "George Thompson" <george.thompson at NYU.EDU>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Monday, November 06, 2006 12:51 PM
Subject: that's what they pay off on


>A frequent expression of my father's was "that's what they pay off on"
> -- meaning "that's the important thing".  I have always supposed that it
> came from his interest in betting the horses, but checking the Proquest
> files of historical newspapers I'm surprised to find that it occurs
> mostly in the context of baseball; also football and prizefighting,
> politics and tennis (once each).  I'm also surprised to see it no
> earlier than 1933, since I've been supposing that my father's turns of
> speech were acquired when he was young, before WWI.  The first three are
> below; the next two came from Ed Sullivan's column of Hollywood tattle
> (1937 & 1938); then the prizefighting story, then 5 baseball stories,
> then a story about Nelson Rockefeller. . . .
>
> However, to our muttons:
>
> [quoting Babe Ruth:]  "My name is Ruth and always has been Ruth and
> always will be Ruth, but some chump said it was Erhardt and everybody
> believes it now.  Aw, what difference does it make as long as you can
> walk up there and get your base knocks?  That's what they pay off on."
> Just Names.  (Sports of the Times)  By JOHN KIERAN.  New York Times,
> August 2, 1933, p. 20
>
> [a college football team was better] in almost every other department of
> the game -- except the final score.  And that's what they pay off on in
> this league.
> BRUIN END PLAYS FULL; Spaulding Plans to Break Harris in at Ted Key's
> Backfield Post.  JACK SINGER. Los Angeles Times, November 4, 1935. p. A9
>
> [quoting Ben Chapman, with reference to batting averages:] "Bucky
> [Harris, his manager] knows, too, that that's what they pay off on when
> they make out that new contract."
> This Morning, WITH SHIRLEY POVICH.  The Washington Post, March 16, 1937,
> p. 17
>
> The last citation (of 14) is from 1979, but the next to last was from
> 1966.
>
> GAT
>
> George A. Thompson
> Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
> Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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