"Dish It Out But Can't Take It"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Fred D. Paisley has, "He can dish it out but he can't take it," in his 1930
bio _Al Capone_. (See HDAS).

But the movie, based on W. R. Burnett's novel, unquestionably popularized
it.

Even "dish it out" alone in the sense of "deal out punishment" is nearly
non-existent before 1931. Earliest:

1929  _Chicago Tribune_ (Feb. 17) G1 [ProQuest]:  "Johnny [Torrio]," says
Moses Lamson [a crime reporter], who thoroughly understands the man, "is
like a lot of fighters in the ring - they can dish it out but they can't
take."  Ibid.  G4: The security of a jail seemed sweet to the man who could
"dish it out but not take it."


JL
On Sat, Jul 17, 2010 at 11:51 AM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      "Dish It Out But Can't Take It"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I came across a claim that the expression "you/he/she can dish it out but
> you/he/she can't take it" originated in the film Little Caesar (1931).
>  Internet Movie Database has this "repeated line" from that film:
>
> Caesar Enrico Bandello: You can dish it out, but you got so you can't take
> it no more.
>
> Can anyone help me determine whether the film in fact originated or
> popularized the expression?
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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