Antedating of "Yada Yada"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Fri, May 23, 2008 at 5:10 PM, Baker, John <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:
>
> [I wrote:]
>
> > And earlier still is "yatata yatata yatata" in William Saroyan's 1947
> > play "Jim Dandy: Fat Man in a Famine", cited in _Dictionary of American
> > Slang_ and this Slate article: <http://www.slate.com/id/3167/>.
>
>        I believe that "Yatata Yatata Yatata" was one of the songs in
> the 1947 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Allegro.  The lyrics, under the
> title "Cocktail Party," seem to be at
> http://www.thepeaches.com/music/composers/hammerstein/CocktailParty.htm.

Also mentioned in these NYT reviews (from 10/11/47 and 11/2/47):

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F7081EFA395E17738DDDA80994D8415B8788F1D3
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00D10FF3B5E17738DDDAB0894D9415B8788F1D3

--Ben Zimmer

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