Perdue (not Frank either)

[Garson O'Toole]

Here is an example of this motif of humor with a reference back to the
Reader's Digest in 1952. The barb is directed at an anonymous
University of Pennsylvania applicant instead of a Purdue (Perdue)
student:

Cite: 1978, Statistical Survey Techniques, GB Page 480, John Wiley &
Sons, New York. (Google snippet; Not verified on paper; Reader's
Digest cite not verified; Data may be inaccurate)

An applicant at the University of Pennsylvania filling out an entrance
form came to the question, "Are you a natural-born citizen of the
U.S.?" He puzzled a while, then wrote: "No - Caesarean" - (Readers
Digest, June 1952).

http://books.google.com/books?id=g2RdAAAAIAAJ&q=Caesarean#search_anchor


The topic of interpreting the term "natural born" in the Constitution
with respect to the cesarean procedure has been mentioned in legal
circles since 1980 (and probably before) with varying degrees of
levity.

Cite: 1980, Democracy and Distrust: a Theory of Judicial Review by
John Hart Ely, Page 13, Harvard University Press. (Google Books
preview)

At one extreme - for example the requirement that the President "have
attained to the Age of thirty five years" - the language is so clear
that a conscious reference to purpose seems unnecessary. Other
provisions, such as the one requiring that the President be a "natural
born Citizen." may need a reference to historical usage so as to
exclude certain alternative constructions - conceivably if improbably
here, a requirement of legitimacy (or illegitimacy!) or non-Caesarian
birth - but once that "dictionary function" is served, the provision
becomes relatively easy to apply.

http://books.google.com/books?id=pS3tro08BFcC&q=Caesarian#v=snippet&


Cite: 1988, [Third Printing 1991] Interpreting Law and Literature: a
Hermeneutic Reader by Sanford Levinson and Steven Mailloux,
Northwestern University Press, Evanston, Illinois. (Google Preview)

She would not know whether the phrase, "No person except a natural
born Citizen . . . shall be eligible to the Office of President," [18]
disqualified persons born abroad or those born by Caesarean section.

http://books.google.com/books?id=-RGbESCXiIMC&q=Caesarean#v=snippet&


On Sun, Mar 20, 2011 at 8:58 PM, 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:      Re: Perdue (not Frank either)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Gee, I only thought it applied to test-tube babies.
>
> I guess they need a pretty bug tube, too....
>
> JL
>
> On Sun, Mar 20, 2011 at 8:52 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: Perdue (not Frank either)
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> At 5:35 PM -0700 3/20/11, James A. Landau <JJJRLandau at netscape.com> wrote:
>> >  >From my inbox. The spelling of "Purdue" in the subject line above
>> >was from the original.
>> >
>> >--- Begin forwarded message:
>> >
>> >  You, who worry about democrats versus republicans--relax, here is
>> >our real problem. In a Purdue University classroom, they were
>> >discussing the qualifications to be President of the United States .
>> >It was pretty simple. The candidate must be a natural born citizen
>> >of at least 35 years of age. However, one girl in the class
>> >immediately started in on how unfair was the
>> >requirement to be a natural born citizen. In short, her opinion was that
>> >this requirement prevented many capable individuals from becoming
>> >president. The class was taking it in and letting her rant, and not many
>> >jaws hit the floor when she wrapped up her argument by stating "What
>> >makes a natural born citizen any more qualified to lead this country
>> >than one born by C-section?"
>>
>> Maybe she'd been paying too much attention in English class when they
>> read "Macbeth".
>>
>> LH
>>
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>>
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>
>
> --
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