Quote: [Remark on death of Calvin Coolidge] How can they tell? (antedating Dorothy Parker 1936)

[Dan Goodman]

Shapiro, Fred wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Quote: [Remark on death of Calvin Coolidge] How can they
>               tell? (antedating Dorothy Parker 1936)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Outstanding find, Garson, particularly since this restores Parker's priority over Wilson Mizner for "How can they tell"?
>
> Are you (or anyone else on this list) able to antedate any of the following first known occurrences for Parkerisms:
>
> antedate 1934:
> That woman speaks eighteen languages, and can't say no in any of them.
> And there was that wholesale libel on a Yale prom.  If all the girls attending it were laid end to end, Mrs. Parker said, she wouldn't be at all surprised.
>
To the best of my memory, I've only seen that as "If all the Vassar
girls....."
> The poor lady had injured herselr while sliding down a barrister.
>
> --
> Dan Goodman
> "I have always depended on the kindness of stranglers."
> Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Expire
> Journal dsgood.dreamwidth.org (livejournal.com, insanejournal.com)

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