inaccurate Billy Sunday quote

[Jonathan Lighter]

Since he uttered the words in 1917, contemporaneous records take
precedence over later versions.

If a genuine 1917 appearance of the seemingly erroneous wording turns
up, well and good.

Till then, we have to go with what we have.

JL

On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 5:11 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: inaccurate Billy Sunday quote
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Just wondering, how do you know which quote is inaccurate? Billy Sunday was
> a traveling evangelist speaking to large crowds without amplification. He
> could have delivered different versions of his sermon to different crowds
> at different times, making all the versions "accurate".
>
> Or am I missing something?
> DanG
>
>
> On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 4:46 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:      inaccurate Billy Sunday quote
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Several sources attribute the following patriotic statement to the
>> whiz-bang American evangelist Billy Sunday in 1917:
>>
>> "The man who breaks all the rules but at last dies fighting in the
>> trenches is better than you Godforsaken mutts who won't enlist."
>>
>> The N.Y. Times (Apr. 9, 1917), p. 1, quotes Sunday as follows:
>>
>> "The soldier who breaks every regulation, yet is found on the firing
>> line in the hour of battle, is better than the God-forsaken mutt who
>> won't enlist, and does all he can to keep others from enlisting. In
>> these days all are patriots or traitors, to your country and the cause
>> of Jesus Christ."
>>
>> A slightly different version:
>>
>> 1917 _The Outlook_ (Apr. 17) 687: [A] man who breaks every military
>> regulation and then goes into the trenches to face shot and shell is
>> better than the miserable mutt who won't enlist - and who tells others
>> not to enlist. In these days a man must be a patriot or a traitor.
>>
>> JL
>>
>> --
>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>>
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>>
>
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> 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