M*A*S*H (was Re: More on "moist")

Douglas G. Wilson douglas at NB.NET
Mon Aug 10 04:12:14 UTC 2009


Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> The Army acronym never involved asterisks. Nor did the title of the 1968
> novel by "Richard Hooker" on which the movie was based.
>
> Asterisks may have been added in the 1970 paperback reprints - can't recall
> for sure.  The 1997 printing, the cover of which is visible at Google Books,
> lacks them.
>
> If memory serves, the newspaper ads and theatrical posters, all (?) of which
> included the
> asterisks, bore the explanatory footnote,   " *Mobile Army Surgical
> Hospital."  That's what the asterisks were there for.
--

Those asterisks were added by Hyman Kaplan, I think. (^_^)

-- Doug Wilson

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