Abbott and Costello routine

[Wilson Gray]

I (literally) once heard a "rock" version of the classic A&C routine:

A. Guess Who will be the opening act.

B. Who?

A. No, Who will be closing.

B. You tell me. Who'll be opening the set?

A. No. Guess Who.

B. Who?

A. I've told you, Who is the closing act. Guess Who will be opening.

'N' so own 'n' so fo'th.


It was more complicated than that, but yawl gnome sane.

-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



On Tue, Mar 10, 2009 at 5:27 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
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> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Â  Â  Â  Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject: Â  Â  Â Re: Abbott and Costello routine
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 4:15 PM -0500 3/10/09, Scot LaFaive wrote:
>>I'm wondering if young adults even know of the "Who's on first?" routine.
>>
>>Scot
>
> They probably do if they're baseball fans; it gets played during rain
> delays and such.
>
> LH
>
>>
>>
>>On 3/10/09, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>> Â ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>> Â -----------------------
>>> Â Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Â Poster: Â  Â  Â  Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>> Â Subject: Â  Â  Â Re: Abbott and Costello routine
>>>
>>>
>>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> Â At 2:27 PM -0400 3/10/09, Bill Palmer wrote:
>>> Â >Good point. Â I'm wondering if "Who's on first?" is more ageless.
>>> Â >
>>>
>>> Â Isn't that the echt A&C routine? Â Or is the idea that people are
>>> Â familiar with the "Who's on first?" routine but don't know that it's
>>> Â Abbott and Costello? Â I find that hard to believe, but I'm probably
>>> Â just showing my age (again).
>>>
>>> Â LH
>>>
>>> Â >----- Original Message -----
>>> Â >From: "Scot LaFaive" <slafaive at GMAIL.COM>
>>> Â >To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Â >Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 2:15 PM
>>> Â >Subject: Abbott and Costello routine
>>> Â >
>>> Â >>---------------------- Information from the mail
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>>> Â >>Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Â >>Poster: Â  Â  Â  Scot LaFaive <slafaive at GMAIL.COM>
>>> Â >>Subject: Â  Â  Â Abbott and Costello routine
>>>
>>> Â >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> Â >>
>>> Â >>"What is this, an Abbott and Costello routine/skit/bit?"
>>> Â >>
>>> Â >>First of all, how prevalent is this for describing a confusing, circular
>>> Â >>conversation? (I get about 40 google hits.)
>>> Â >>Second, is this a dying expression with future generation's inevitably
>>> Â >>forgetting about Abbott and Costello save their names?
>>> Â >>
>>> Â >>Scot
>>> Â >>
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