"just one letter away"

[Joel S. Berson]

A bit earlier:

"A little more than kin, and less than kind."  []1599-1601]

Joel

At 9/22/2010 12:46 PM, Garson O'Toole wrote:
>Here is an example of  "just one letter away" transformative word play
>in the 1600's and the same example in 1900.
>
>The introduction to the "Collected Writings" of Elizabeth Jane Weston
>(2000) says "one indication of her eminence is the fact that Thomas
>Farnaby's 1634 list of eminent ancient and modern writers, his Index
>Poeticus, published in London, includes her as one of only seven
>English writers, and the only woman of any place or time.". Excerpt:
>
>The merest trifle sets kindred spirits at odds:
>   a single letter's difference changes eros to eris.
>
>http://books.google.com/books?id=MhDq26Ua1tQC&q=eros#v=snippet&
>
>A few centuries later:
>
>1900 January, Everybody's Magazine, The Twenty-Seventh Letter of the
>Alphabet by Lucy Cleveland, Page 3, The North American Company, New
>York.
>
>Come to think of it, there's just one letter that differentiates eris
>and eros: discord and desire.
>
>http://books.google.com/books?id=RGoXAQAAIAAJ&q=eris#v=snippet&
>
>Admittedly, the first transformation is not a "humorous formula"
>unless it is a melancholy humor.
>
>Garson
>
>On Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 11:41 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:      "just one letter away"
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Stephen Colbert pointed out last week that, indisputably, "Reason is just
> > one letter away from treason."
> >
> > A search shows that, as a humorous formula, "just one letter away" has been
> > in traceable under-the-radar use for about a decade.
> >
> > Perhaps it's popped up occasionally since literacy evolved. However, the
> > earliest I can find online is from 2000.  The first time I heard it was
> > probably around that time - on _The Daily Show_, in fact.  Jon Stewart (who
> > took over the show in 1999) was "interviewing" somebody (possibly
> Colbert or
> > Mo Rocca) who said, "Remember, 'Freud' is just one letter away from
> > 'fraud.'"
> >
> > It could not have been after early 2005, when we moved from the house I
> > heard it in.  Rocca left the show in 2003.  My "feeling" is that it was
> > earlier than that.
> >
> > JL
> >
> >  --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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