push comes to shove (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

And more, from 19th Cent Newspapers:

_Macon Telegraph_ 2/13/1897 p 4 col 3
"But, "if pinch [sic] comes to shove," as old Sol [??? --garbled] was
wont to say, will these gentlemen put on the habilaments [sic] of war
and prove "more than a match" for British ironclads or Spanish
machetes?"

_Macon Telegraph_ 2/28/1898, p 4 col 2
"When "push comes to shove" will editors of the Yellow Kid organs
enlist?"
["The Yellow Kid", a seminal newspaper cartoon, was syndicated by the
Hearst Syndicate.  Hearst promoted US entry into the Spanish-American
war.]


_Macon Telegraph_ 10/6/1898, p 20 col 2
"To drop to negro philosophy, "when push comes to shove he must move." "

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mullins, Bill AMRDEC
> Sent: Friday, February 26, 2010 2:45 PM
> To: 'American Dialect Society'
> Subject: RE: push comes to shove (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> The _Macon [GA] Telegraph_ 9/10/1899, p. 8 col 3 has a letter to the
> editor (written 9/9/1899) entitled "Push Comes to Shove" (seen in
> Newsbank Historical Newspapers).  The letter bemoans the fact that
> areas formerly populated by whites are now populated by blacks -- the
> whites have been pushed out.
>
> Also:
>
> _Macon Telegraph_ 11/6/1916 p 4 col 5
> "When the push comes to a shove, and the getting-off point is reached,
> I don't think the State need strangle on caught breath if the Governor
> runs in a dark horse -- "a rank outsider," so to speak."
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> > Behalf Of Benjamin Zimmer
> > Sent: Friday, February 26, 2010 10:14 AM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: push comes to shove (1924)
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
-------------
> --
> > --------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
> > Subject:      push comes to shove (1924)
> >
---------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
> > --------
> >
> > The latest OED draft entry for "push" has "if/when push comes to
> > shove" from 1940. Some earlier cites (the first three are from "The
> > Week," by Defender columnist Roscoe Simmons):
> >
> > ---
> > 1924 _Chicago Defender_ 9 Aug. II1/2 "Defense day," backed by
> > President Coolidge, will be used to show you what you could do in a
> > pinch and, also, to show Europe what Uncle Sam can do if push comes
> to
> > shove.
> > ---
> > 1924 _Chicago Defender_ 4 Oct. II1/2 Hope that this matter will blow
> > over, but if push comes to shove and you are called, don't make a
> > mistake.
> > ---
> > 1926 _Chicago Defender_ 20 Feb. II1/2 He may even give the register
> of
> > the treasury to some dark American if push comes to shove.
> > ---
> > 1932 _Chicago Defender_ 23 Jan. 14/2 Indeed, American sailors, like
> > all Americans, are tough on ladies, all outside of their "race"
> first,
> > and then their own if push comes to shove, at sea, on land, home or
> > abroad.
> > ---
> > 1935 Arna Bontemps _Black Thunder_ 53 And, let push come to shove,
He
> > going to fight them down like a flock of pant'ers, He is.
> > http://books.google.com/books?id=z3wGAQAAIAAJ
> > ---
> > 1937 _Atlanta Daily World_ 9 Mar. 2/6 It would be better, when push
> > comes to shove, for you to put all of them out and after they are
out
> > a little while and realize what it is all about, they will be glad
to
> > come back and be good.
> > ---
> >
> > And M.J. Devaney sends this one along:
> >
> > ---
> > 1931 _Baltimore Sun_ 5 Dec. 36 "It's got to be one or two [whites],
> > but if push come to shove, they're not going to do no better'n keep
> > quiet." (in: "Mob Took Negro from Her Custody," quoting Snow Holden
> > from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, regarding the inability of
blacks
> > to trust whites in the wake of the Matthew Williams lynching in
1931)
> > ---
> >
> >
> > --Ben Zimmer
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org