Perdue (not Frank either)

[Jonathan Lighter]

So maybe they don't walk among us?

JL

On Sun, Mar 20, 2011 at 10:57 PM, Garson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Perdue (not Frank either)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "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
>



--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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