"stuck on stupid"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 9/2/06, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> The anniversary of Katrina reminded me of General Honore's remark in
> its wake that emergency management was "stuck on stupid."
>
>   Not only do I find over a half million Googlits, Usenet has it back to 1995.
>
>   Does it have some kind of anecdotal or pop cultural origin ?

Dunno, but last time we discussed this, I found a 1992 cite:

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St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 23, 1992, p. 1A (Nexis)
"This country has been SOS for 12 years, and by that I mean Stuck On
Stupid," said Knies, a computer programmer downtown, who lives in Ballwin.
-----

And here's a recent usage, from comedian/magician Harry Anderson,
who's decided to leave New Orleans after living there since 2000:

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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/30/arts/television/30harr.html
New York Times, Aug. 30, 2006
"This city hasn't evolved," Mr. Anderson said. "I just feel this place
is stuck on stupid."
-----


--Ben Zimmer

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