Modern Proverb: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. (antedating exact 1916)

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Sun Mar 28 16:21:29 UTC 2010


I have a Ph. D. friend who says, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice,
you're a dead man."

JL

On Sun, Mar 28, 2010 at 11:18 AM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Modern Proverb: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me
> twice,
>              shame on me. (antedating exact 1916)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "There is an old saying in Tennessee--I know it's in Texas, probably in
> Tennessee ...That's, that's, fool me once ... shame on ... shame on you.
> ... If fool me, you can't get fooled again!"
>
> On 3/28/2010 9:38 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:
> > At 4:15 AM -0400 3/28/10, Garson O'Toole wrote:
> >
> >> Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
> >>
> >> Addendum: The proverb is worded in many different ways,
> >>
> > I've always liked GWB's wording:
> >
> > "Fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled
> again."
> > Video at
> > http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/bushvideos/v/bushfoolme.htm
> > I'm pretty sure we can't turn up any pre-2002 antedatings of that
> version.
> >
> > LH
> >
> >
>
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