floggings will continue until morale improves (1988) firing (1977) no liberty (1966)

[Jonathan Lighter]

The "RFM"?  Am familiar with Fickle Finger of Fate and Green Weenie only.
Please advise.

JL

On Sun, Dec 6, 2009 at 2:52 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: floggings will continue until morale improves (1988)
> firing
>              (1977) no liberty (1966)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> These both remind me of the traditional claim that enlisted men who
> aren't always complaining are exhibiting the signs of low morale. In
> my day, we EM *were* always complaining, because the Army sucks, not
> to mention the working of the Great Random Fuck-Machine in The Sky
> (the RFM) that ensured that the Army would suck, even when it didn't
> intend to.
>
> As a consequence, I have no idea whether our morale would have been
> low, had the military been a swinging scene.
>
> -Wilson
>
> On Sun, Dec 6, 2009 at 9:27 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: floggings will continue until morale improves (1988)
> firing
> >              (1977) no liberty (1966)
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Voltaire famously expressed a related sentiment in _Candide_: "Dans ce
> > pays-ci il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager
> les
> > autres."
> > "In this country [England], it's a good idea to execute an admiral from
> time
> > to time - to encourage the others."
> >
> > Voltaire was referring to the execution in 1757 of Adm. John Byng, not
> for
> > cowardice but  for failing to disobey [sic] an order during the Battle of
> > Minorca. Though most of the nation sided with Byng, and even the House of
> > Commons recommended clemency,  George II refused to commute the sentence.
> >
> > IIRC, Gen. Broulard (Adolphe Menjou) uses Voltaire's phrase "to encourage
> > the others" in justifying the executions that are the climax
> > of Kubrick's _Paths of Glory_ (1957).
> >
> > JL
> >
> >
> > On Sun, Dec 6, 2009 at 1:58 AM, Garson O'Toole <
> adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:
> >
> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >> -----------------------
> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> >> Subject:      floggings will continue until morale improves (1988)
> firing
> >>              (1977) no liberty (1966)
> >>
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >> Wikipedia has an entry for the mordant phrase "The beatings will
> >> continue until morale improves".
> >>
> >>
> >>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_beatings_will_continue_until_morale_improves
> >>
> >> Searching for similar phrases I have found that the punishment varies.
> >> Flogging, whipping, beating, and even hanging appear as variations in
> >> the saying. Less physically severe sanctions include firing and no
> >> liberty for naval personnel.
> >>
> >> Wikipedia presents an origin story involving the Japanese Imperial
> >> Navy during World War II, but I have not found any evidence for it.
> >> The oldest citations that I have found for three versions of the quote
> >> are all relatively recent. Perhaps others can do better.
> >>
> >>
> >> Citation: 1988 June 30, The Prescott Courier, page 1B, Prescott,
> Arizona.
> >>
> >> "The floggings will continue until morale improves," said a sign
> >> posted outside the Senate minority caucus room.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wKoOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IYEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4911,7453596&dq=floggings-will-continue&hl=en
> >>
> >>
> >> Citation: 1977, Quote Unquote by Lloyd Cory, page 214, Victor Books.
> >> (Caveat: snippet view)
> >>
> >> (Sign in a boss' office): Firing will continue until morale improves.
> >>
> >> http://books.google.com/books?id=Rf8C-KoKFTwC&q=firing#search_anchor
> >>
> >>
> >> Citation: 1966, Dictionary of Military and Naval Quotations by Robert
> >> Debs Heinl Jr., page 197, Naval Institute Press.
> >>
> >> There will be no liberty on board this ship until morale improves.
> >>      Excerpt from Plan of the Day,
> >>      USS * * *
> >>
> >>
> >>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=tg8xIiEfFL0C&q=morale+improves#v=snippet&q=morale%20improves&f=false
> >>
> >> Garson
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "There You Go Again...Using Reason on the Planet of the Duck-Billed
> > Platypus"
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
> -Wilson
> –––
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> –Mark Twain
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



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"There You Go Again...Using Reason on the Planet of the Duck-Billed
Platypus"

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