Fall Guy (1903-1904)

[Jonathan Lighter]

You win our thanks, Barry, along with the stunned realization that not even electronic wizardry could beat HDAS by more than a few months.

  Mwaaahahahahahahahahahaha...!

  JL

Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Bapopik at AOL.COM
Subject: Fall Guy (1903-1904)
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Last week, William Safire asked if anyone could be HDAS's 1904 citation for
"fall guy." What do I win? Do I finally get credit this year for some of my
own work?
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_http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/ndnp:538017/display.html?n=0&scope=full
text&pageNum=1¤tSort=Date&mode=list_
(http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/ndnp:538017/display.html?n=0&scope=fulltext&pageNum=1¤tSort=Date&mod
e=list)
26 March 1903, San Francisco (CA) Call, pg. 8 photo caption:
THE BLOW THAT MADE TERRY TERRIBLE, A RIGHT HAND TO THE BODY, WHICH HAS WON
MANY A FIGHT FOR McGOVERN, THE "FALL GUY" IN THE ILLUSTRATION IS EDDIE CAIN,
THE BROOKLYN BOXER'S SPARRING PARTNER.
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_http://www.loc.gov/ch
roniclingamerica/ndnp:412787/display.html?n=2&scope=fulltext&pageNum=1¤tSort=Date&mode=list_
(http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/ndnp:412787/display.html?n=2&scope=fulltext&pageNum=1¤tSort=Date&mod
e=list)
4 September 1903, Salt Lake (UT) Herald, pg. 7:
Here I was pitching my head off and they were all making errors to burn, but
I had to stand for being made the fall guy. See?
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_http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/ndnp:171665/display.html?n=3&scope=full
text&pageNum=1¤tSort=Date&mode=list_
(http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/ndnp:171665/display.html?n=3&scope=fulltext&pageNum=1¤tSort=Date&mod
e=list)
26 November 1903, San Francisco Call, pg. 8:
Thatcher, who was considered the worst dub on Charley Reilly's Los Angeles
team, has proved to be the fall guy with Brooklyn.
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_http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/ndnp:524021/display.html?n=4&scope=full
text&pageNum=1¤tSort=Date&mode=list_
(http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/ndnp:524021/display.html?n=4&scope=fulltext&pageNum=1¤tSort=Date&mod
e=list)
22 November 1903, San Francisco Call, pg. ?:
It was a grave question before the court whether or not the astute captain
of detectives had been a "fall guy" to the blandishments of the aged "moocher."
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_http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/ndnp:524147/display.html?n=5&scope=full
text&pageNum=1¤tSort=Date&mode=list_
(http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/ndnp:524147/display.html?n=5&scope=fulltext&pageNum=1¤tSort=Date&mod
e=list)
25 November 1903, San Francisco Call, pg. ?:
J. P. Beck was the "fall guy" for the crowd and he appeared before Judge
Fritz yesterday.
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2 August 1904, Fort Worth (TX) Telegram, "Coining of the word 'Hoodlum,'"
pg. 5:
It was in 1872, when the Odd Fellows held a picnic in Redwood City. On that
occasion a gang of toughs "butted in" with otherwise orderly attendance. Among
the gang was one whose name was Hood Lummix, a big, foolish chap, the butt
of his companions and the "fall guy" for all manner of troubles.
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3 December 1904, Oakland (CA) Tribune, part II, pg. 11:
Then again, Bard is worked as a "fall guy."
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5 December 1904, Oakland (CA) Tribune, pg. 6, col. 1:
The man who picked General Stoessel for the "fall guy" is no more able to
pick a winner than I am Taggart.

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