Quip in the news: Heads I win, tails you lose (antedating 1739)

[Dan Goncharoff]

GB confirms use of the phrase in the late 80s. Earlier, however, there
are a few uses related to contractors instead of bankers.

DanG



On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 7:44 PM, Garson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Quip in the news: Heads I win, tails you lose (antedating
>              1739)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The heads-tails idiom with a flavor of banking chicanery caught Barry
> Popik's eye also.
>
> The Big Apple: "Heads, I win; Tails, the government will bail me out"
> February 01, 2010
> http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/heads_i_win_tails_the_government_will_bail_me_out/
>
> <Begin excerpt>
> When flipping a coin to decide an outcome, it’s usually "Heads, I win;
> tails, I lose" or "Heads, I win; tails, you win." The dishonest saying
> is: "Heads, I win; tails, you lose."
>
> By the late 1980s, the following saying developed regarding banks with
> losses protected by the government: "Heads, I win; tails, the taxpayer
> loses."
> <End excerpt>
>
> On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 6:46 PM, George Thompson
> <george.thompson at nyu.edu> wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       George Thompson <george.thompson at NYU.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: Quip in the news: Heads I win, tails you lose (antedating
>>              1739)
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> I thank Garson for doing this research.
>>
>>
>>
>> The form that provoked me to ask him about the phrase was  "It's heads the
>> bankers win, tails the taxpayers lose."
>>
>> No doubt there have been other such riffs on it in previous crises.
>>
>> (I supposed I had seen this in the NYTimes, but it doesn't turn up in a
>> search of their website.)
>>
>>
>> GAT
>
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