lightning in a bottle

[Garson O'Toole]

Thanks to Jon for pointing to this electrifying expression. Here are
selected examples of "catch lightning in a bottle" as a figure of
speech. All the citations are in the sports domain, but the first in
1936 is in boxing and the other two are from baseball. In 1941 the
expression appears in a subhead in the New York Times which might have
increased its popularity. I do not think these are the earliest cites
because I conducted a superficial search. (Also, watch for OCR errors
and retyping errors.)

In 1936 writing in a newspaper column called "The Sports Parade" the
author Braven Dyer comments on a boxing match between Johnny Pacek and
Art Lasky.

Cite: 1936 Jun 30, Los Angeles Times, The Sports Parade by Braven
Dyer, Page A11, Los Angeles, California. (ProQuest)

Art's only hope, as I see it, is to connect with a sleep producer
early. And he'll find tagging Pacek's chin something like trying to
catch lightning in a bottle.


In 1941 an article in the New York Times includes the expression in a
subtitle immediately below the main title of an article. The saying
also appears in the article where it is attributed to baseball manager
Leo Durocher whose team just lost to a rival, the Yankees:

Cite: 1941 Oct 6, New York Times, "Dodgers Stress Luck of Rivals:
Yanks Could 'Catch Lightning in a Bottle,' Durocher Remarks After
Game" by Roscoe McGowen, Page 21, New York, New York. (ProQuest)

One of Durocher's pet expressions for someone who expects miracles is:
"What're you tryin' to do-catch lightning in a bottle?"

Bottle Tells the Story

He had this in mind when, just before he walked out of the clubhouse
yesterday he turned to a group of reporters and, pointing to an empty
beer bottle near his locker, said: "You know what that game today was,
don't you?"


Cite: 1941 October 6, Ottawa Citizen, Mickey Owen is Nearly in Tears
as Dodgers March into Clubhouse, Page 11, Column 7, Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada. (Google News archive)

Larry MacPhail, the club president, walked around patting every player
on the back. "In poker there's a saying, when you try to do something
the hard way, like filling an inside straight, that you're trying to
catch lightning in a bottle," Larry told the players.

Garson


On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 9:09 AM, Garson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: lightning in a bottle
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Baseball manager Leo Durocher (Leo the Lip) helped to popularize the
> phrase according to a October 6, 1941 report. It was "one of
> Durocher's pet expressions" according to the New York Times. More
> details when I have a bit more time.
>
> On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 7:48 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      lightning in a bottle
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Not in OED.
>>
>> CNN and others claim that the Democrats are "hoping to catch lightning in a
>> bottle" by surviving the prophesized [sic] annihilation tomorrow.
>>
>> Early exx. on GB seem to refer exclusively and literally to Benjamin
>> Franklin's famous kite experiment.  What's a little surpising
>> is that the metaphorical phrase, meaning to "do the impossible; beat
>> tremendous odds; make a brilliant and unlikely success, etc." took so long
>> to become proverbial.
>>
>> I haven't been exhaustive, but the earliest GB cite for "caught..." rather
>> than "catch..." doesn't occur till 1946:
>>
>> 1946 Bob Broeg & Robert Burrill _Don't Bring That Up!_  [N.Y.: A.S. Barnes]
>> 243: Garrulous Leo Durocher, to whom words for once came hard, mumbled
>> repeatedly, "We caught lightning in a bottle, lightning in a bottle," an
>> expression gleaned from the poker table and one that vaguely meant the
>> explosive effect of a [snippet ends].
>>
>> Had they thought the phrase well known, the authors wouldn't have associated
>> it with "the poker table."
>>
>> Incredibly to me, NewspaperArchive gives only three exx. of "lightning in a
>> bottle," the earliest in 1961.  Chronicling America gives no results at all.
>>
>> There are thousands and thousands of recent Google hits.
>>
>> Not to be confised with _bottled lightning_, 'powerful alcoholic beverage.'
>>
>> JL
>>
>> --
>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>>
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