"call him George"/"call me Shorty" (UNCLASSIFIED)

Tue Feb 23 19:34:54 UTC 2010

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This quote may be influential, and is earlier than _Of Mice and Men_.

"Thinks Youth to Follow Saner Social Standards" _Springfield [MA]
Republican_ 11/23/1928 p 2 col 3 [a wire article from London, dated
11/22]

"Among other high points of his speech, Shaw wanted to know what would
happen in the future when the king's ministers slap him on the shoulder
and call him "George." "
"He would have said he was unable to have that type for a colleague; one
capable of slapping the king's back and calling him 'George.' "
"The king will be confronted with Labor governments, the members of
which will slap him on the back and call him 'George,' and they will
want tomake him a puppet more completely than any aristocratic cabinet
ever did."

These lines come from a speech by George Bernard Shaw, and the "George"
in question is King George V.  This speech was widely reported (I also
found it in the NY Times), and since Shaw repeated the phrase several
times, it may have been remembered by those who started the "love him
squeeze him call him George" line.

And another form of the "X my Y and call me Z" that I've heard is
"pierce my ears and call me drafty".

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