Bill Klem Quote

[Shapiro, Fred]

In The Yale Book of Quotations, I cite a 1948 source for attribution to Charlie Moran.

Fred Shapiro



________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of victor steinbok [aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM]
Sent: Friday, May 27, 2011 8:49 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Bill Klem Quote

I got a second proximate source to back up the Charlie Moran theory--Mass.
Historical Society, supposedly from 1952.

http://goo.gl/stmDG

VS-)

On Fri, May 27, 2011 at 8:44 AM, victor steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:

> I don't have an antedating of "It ain't nothin'..." quote, but I do have an
> early alternative attribution.
>
> Several 1949 obits for umpire Charles B. "Uncle Charlie" Moran attribute
> the line to him in this form: "It ain't nothing until I call it."
>
> http://goo.gl/WAh7Z
>
> Boston Daily Globe had a similar obit with a similar attribution (on the
> same day).
>
> It's not a mere attribution--"he was noted for his famous expression".
>
> How quickly they forget!
>
> I don't see any reason to take this attribution lightly. The Klem stories
> even differ on the kind of call that he supposedly made when barking that
> line--was it a ball or a strike? was it fair or foul? was he on the
> third-base line or at home plate?
>
> VS-)
>
>
>
> On Thu, May 26, 2011 at 11:29 AM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>wrote:
>
>>
>> You're right, Jon.  I should actually read posts before I respond to them.
>>
>> The quote I was thinking of was "It ain't nothing till I call it."  The
>> quote Jon was posting about, "I calls 'em as I sees 'em," seems not to be
>> included in Paul Dickson's Baseball's Greatest Quotations, although Dickson
>> has a section of front matter titled "I Call 'Em As I See 'Em."
>>
>> In addition to finding earlier evidence than 1948 for "It ain't nothing
>> till I call it," perhaps Garson or Sam or Bill or Stephen or Ben or someone
>> else can find early evidence for "I call 'em as I see 'em."  The earliest
>> version I find in a quick ProQuest search is 1933 in the Boston Globe, where
>> Klem is quoted denying that he called them as he saw them.
>>
>> Fred Shapiro
>>
>

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

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