"close enough for government work" 1965

[Jonathan Lighter]

No pre-1973 Googlits for "good enough..."  I've always found "close enough..." to be more frequent. I first noticed it/ them becoming common ca1980, FWIW.

  Various journal searches seem to bear this out.
  JL

Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Benjamin Barrett
Subject: Re: "close enough for government work" 1965
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I grew up hearing "good enough for government work." BB

On Apr 27, 2008, at 12:12 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

>
> I first heard this in 1973. The earliest I've found it in print is
>
> 1968 Fred MacKenzie The Men of Bastogne (N.Y.: David McKay) 189
> [ref. to 1944] : [Lieut. Col.] Harry Kinnard quipped, "That's close
> enough for government work."
>
>

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