Eleventh Commandment of Politics (dead woman or live man)

[Baker, John]

        For some reason, I keep writing YBK instead of YBQ, but this is
the first time I failed to catch it, I think.  I believe I'm
subconsciously influenced by Y2K, and perhaps also by the possible
abbreviation "BK" for book.

        Dallas ran from 1978 to 1991 (although the IAMB quotes page just
says 1978).  However, a summary on
http://dallas.angelcities.com/summaries.html suggests that the line was
used in Season 1, Episode 13, which aired August 16 (I assume that's
August 16, 1998).  Maybe a Dallas fan can confirm the line and original
air date.


John Baker



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Fred Shapiro
Sent: Monday, January 08, 2007 4:29 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Eleventh Commandment of Politics (dead woman or live man)

On Mon, 8 Jan 2007, Baker, John wrote:

>        This appears to be an antedating.  YBK quotes Louisiana
> politician Edwin Edwards, from his 1983 run for governor of Louisiana:
> "The only way I can lose this election is if I'm caught in bed with
> either a dead girl or a live boy."  Incidentally, YBK gives a 1985
> cite

I like YBK.  Short for Yale Book of Kwotations, no doubt?

I appreciate the earlier evidence brought forward by Barry, which seems
to point toward Edwin Edwards not being the originator of this saying.

Fred Shapiro

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