Problem with citation for Dorothy Parker quote in the Oxford Dictionary of American Quotations

[Shapiro, Fred]

Perhaps I was too harsh in my comment; as quotation dictionaries go, it's one of the better ones, entertaining and the product of more research than most.

Fred Shapiro



________________________________________
From: Shapiro, Fred
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 9:57 PM
To: American Dialect Society
Subject: RE: Problem with citation for Dorothy Parker quote in the Oxford Dictionary of American Quotations

I have worked closely with the Oxford Dictionary of American Quotations, and, although it emanates from a distinguished publishing company, I find it to be quite disappointing as a reference work.

Fred Shapiro



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From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Garson O'Toole [adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM]
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 2:31 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Problem with citation for Dorothy Parker quote in the Oxford              Dictionary of American Quotations

The Oxford Dictionary of American Quotations (online) contains a very
interesting but probably incorrect citation for a Dorothy Parker
quotation about throwing a book with great force. The goal of this
post is to help other researchers avoid following a dead-end lead, and
to help Oxford Press improve an important reference.

The citation is given in a comment appended to another quotation by Parker.

Dorothy Parker section: Begin excerpt:

8. And it is the word “hummy,” my darlings, that marks the first place
in The House at Pooh Corner  at which Tonstant Weader fwowed up.
Constant Reader column, The New Yorker, Oct. 20 , 1928

Parker is also said to have coined the terse review: “It is not a
novel to be thrown aside lightly. It should be thrown aside with great
force”; quoted in A. Johnston, Legend of a Sport, in The New Yorker.

End excerpt.

The profile of Wilson Mizner by Alva Johnston in the New Yorker is
titled "Legend of a Sport". This profile is spread across several
issues in 1942. In addition, the profile was continued in 1950 with
the same title and author. I was unable to locate the quotation in
these columns when I visually scanned the text. Also, I was unable to
match the quote when using the OCR based full text search in the
online New Yorker archive.

The earliest known instances of the quotation, I believe, are dated
April 04, 1960 in the Oakland Tribune and October 1962 in Bennett
Cerf's column. The 1960 cite acknowledges an earlier appearance of the
phrase in the Los Angeles Mirror News, but no details are given.
Apparently there is microfilm of the Los Angeles Mirror news in the
Los Angeles central library. I suspect that this microfilm has not yet
been digitized for wider dissemination.

List members Sam Clements and Bonnie Taylor-Blake located these great
cites. The information was posted to the Snopes bulletin board and
also mentioned on the ADS list last July when Fred Shapiro listed this
saying as a candidate for antedating

http://message.snopes.com/showpost.php?p=1013420&postcount=14
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ADS-L;g%2FMlcQ;201007171927260400C
Shorter version of the ADS list link:
http://goo.gl/7HEsp

While researching this saying I think I discovered why the Oxford
reference presents an incorrect citation to the New Yorker profile
"Legend of a Sport". The problem stems from misunderstanding the
referent for the term "ib." in the section for Dorothy Parker in the
following reference:

Cite: 1980 (reprint 1983), The Penguin Dictionary of Modern Quotations
Second edition by J. M. Cohen and M. J. Cohen, Page 259, Penguin
Books, Middlesex, England.

Consider the following sequence of five quotations from the reference:

19 A list of authors who have made themselves most beloved and
therefore, most comfortable financially, shows that it is our national
joy to mistake for the first-rate, the fecund rate. [Quoted in R. E.
Drennan, Wit's End]

20 [When asked whether she had enjoyed a cocktail party] Enjoyed it!
One more drink and I'd have been under the host. [Quoted in ib.]

21 You can't teach an old dogma new tricks. [Quoted in ib.]

22 Why, I never even knew that he was alive. [On being told that
ex-President Coolidge had died. Quoted in ib. Similar joke ascribed to
Wilson Mizner in A. Johnston;  Legend of a Sport; the New Yorker]

23 This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown
with great force. [Book review, quoted in ib.]

The "ib." in entry 23 is ambiguous. It refers to R. E. Drennan, Wit's
End. It does not refer to A. Johnston; Legend of a Sport. The Dorothy
Parker 23 saying does appear in Wit's End (1968).

Hope this message helps another researcher save some time.

Garson

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