killing people and breaking things

[Dan Goncharoff]

In GB, this is a snippet view from Amazing stories: Volume 15, Issues
1-6, dated 1941:

"...I'll stamp around and I'll break things up and 'l'll kill people.
I want you. Master!" and thus it went, ceaselessly. "He remembers,"
whispered Clive. "He's mad!" "Not mad enough not to know what he
wants," said Jason."...

DanG

On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 4:38 PM, Neal Whitman <nwhitman at ameritech.net> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Neal Whitman <nwhitman at AMERITECH.NET>
> Subject:      killing people and breaking things
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I'm writing an article about the military use of "kinetic", as discussed =
> here a few times. A friend who has served in the Army defined it as =
> "killing people and breaking things", which I've since learned is a =
> common summary of the purpose of an army. The earliest I've found this =
> phrase attested is from 1977, via Google Books:
>
>  Armies kill people and break things; therefore, their commitment =
> involves serious questions as to who will be killed, what will be =
> broken, and how long and by whom the effects will be felt. =20
>  Parameters: journal of the US Army War College: Volume 7, Issue 3 =
> (1977)
>
> Elsewhere, I've found it vaguely attributed to the Vietnam War era. Does =
> anyone here know of earlier uses than 1977 for "kill(ing) people and =
> break(ing) things"?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Neal Whitman
> Email: nwhitman at ameritech.net
> Blog: http://literalminded.wordpress.com
>
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