"What part of no don't you understand?"

[Jonathan Lighter]

My possibly unreliable feeling is "No means no" goes back before 1963 as a
standard parental comeback to importuning youth.

JL

On Sun, Jun 24, 2012 at 11:49 AM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "What part of no don't you understand?"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The 1994 book might have been a vector, but I associate this phrase,
> along with "No means no!", with anti-date-rape campaign on college
> campuses that started in full somewhere in 1985-6 (some local campaigns
> likely date earlier, but this is when it became national). So 1989 Nexis
> date sounds just about right. But I'm not even sure that's the "origin".
> I expect that the companion "No means no!" reaches at least into the
> 1970s, at least in its association with anti-rape messages, but it also
> appears that Dear Abby column might have served as a vector (in broader
> circumstances) in the early 1980s, followed by Susan Estrich's book
> "Rape" in 1987. In either case, the phrase was already established.
>
> In fact, the phrase itself is older.
>
> ==
> The Court Says 'No' Means 'No'
>  Pay-Per-View -
> Christian Science Monitor - May 17, 1961
> The United States Supreme Court has refused to review a decision of the
> Vermont Supreme Court against payment from public funds of tuition for
> high school ...
> ==
>
> http://goo.gl/Lzogw
> ABA Journal. Volume 49 (5). May 1963
> The Regents' Prayer Case: In the Establishment Clause "No Means No". By
> William J. Butler. p. 444
> > The Constitution says that the government shall take no part in the
> > establishment of religion. No means no.
>
>
> http://goo.gl/ql84V
> Gaining Equal Rights Means A Struggle For All Women [Dear Abby]
> Pittsburgh Press - May 12, 1980. P. A-14/5
> > DEAR ABBY: If you could give the young parents of today just one piece
> > of advice, what would it be? -- NEW MOTHER
> > Start early. By consistent. A child must learn that no means no. It
> > doesn't mean maybe. And maybe doesn't mean yes.
>
>
> http://goo.gl/iz3bN
> Grandma Must Learn To Say No [Dear Abby]
> Tuscaloosa News - Oct 21, 1982. P. 6/2
> > DEAR MOM: Your problem is not your sons, it's you! You haven't learned
> > how to say no to your sons and make it stick. Start now to say no with
> > a firmness and conviction leaves absolutely no doubt that your no
> > means NO, and no "maybe" or "yes."
>
>
> As for "What/which part of no don't you understand?", St Louis
> Post-Dispatch appears to have one in the archives from 1989:
>
> St. Louis Post-Dispatch : Bond Issue For Water Passes, But...
> $2.95 -
> St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Feb 9, 1989
> ''I've had quite a few people approach me and ask which part of 'No' I
> didn't understand.'' But he said he would approach the board tonight
> with a plan to ...
>
> Aside from that, GNA also finds a bunch of hits from 1991-2, where the
> phrase is associated with "buttons and bumper stickers" and
> "demonstrators". But not all of them identify it as an anti-rape slogan
> (taxes being the other big "NO!" issue). For example,
>
> http://goo.gl/oJtgk
> What The Men In Power Don't Get .
> St. Petersburg Times - Oct 8, 1991. P. 1/6
> > There's this motto popping up on buttons and bumper stickers that
> > says: what part of NO don't you understand?" Perhaps we are ready to
> > print another, and wear it around Washington, "What part of sexual
> > harassment don't you understand?"
>
>
> There are four GNA hits from 1991, starting on March 15. But what is
> clear is that 1994 is much too late.
>
>     VS-)
>
> On 6/24/2012 9:21 AM, Shapiro, Fred wrote:
> > What is this citation the effective origin of?  Nexis shows the phrase
> in use back to 1989.
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
> >
> >
> > ________________________________________
> > From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of
> Jonathan Lighter [wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM]
> > Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2012 9:05 AM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: "What part of no don't you understand?"
> >
> > Asked sarcastically.
> >
> > The effective origin appears to be:
> >
> > 1994 Dennis G. Korby _What Part of No Don't You Understand?: Avoiding and
> > Defending Against Rape_ (Livonia, Mich.: Koto Press). (Published July 1.)
> >
> > The GB distribution suggests that the phr. was flourishing by 2000.
> >
> > JL
>
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