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

Mon Jun 25 11:24:12 UTC 2012

Good workm G.

Interesting that NewspArch never coughed up the '88 for me when I was
looking.

JL

On Mon, Jun 25, 2012 at 1:14 AM, 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: "What part of no don't you understand?"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Cite: 1988 October 17, Mountain Democrat, Over the back fence by
> Virginia Briggs, Page A-2, Column 1, [NArch Page 3], Placerville,
> California. (NewspaperArchive)
>
> Context: The following article was published in a newspaper based in
> Placerville, California. A surprise party was held in honor of Carl
> Borelli, a man who had been a City Councilman for 14-years.
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> To end the bash, Jim Mclntire told of his experiences with Carl, not
> the least of which was taking pizza to the Russian Consulate in San
> Francisco and of Carl's determination when he wanted to get something
> done. "He wouldn't take no for an answer," which gave meaning to the
> T-shirt Jim presented Carl printed with "What part of No don't you
> understand."
> [End excerpt]
>
> GB contains a book that was apparently published in 1989 that
> contained the expression.
>
> Cite: 1989, The Landry Legend: Grace Under Pressure by Bob St John, GB
> Page 4, Word Pub., Dallas, Texas. (Google Books snippet view; Quote
> partially visible in snippet;  Date probe indicates 1990 is in the
> future, Library catalog agrees with 1989 date of publication; Data may
> be inaccurate)
>
> [Begin extracted text]
> He even attended a council meeting with Irving Mayor Bob Pierce, who
> was armed with a poster which said, "What part of NO don't you
> understand?" At first Jones seemed receptive to renaming the stadium
> after Landry, but later he said he didn't believe in naming stadiums
> after people nor retiring jerseys of players because somebody else
> might come along who was better, ...
> [End extracted text]
>
> Garson
>
> On Sun, Jun 24, 2012 at 10:43 PM, Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Baker, John" <JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: "What part of no don't you understand?"
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Slightly earlier from Clay Robison, Legislators do right by elderly,
> poor, sick, Houston Chronicle (June 11, 1989) (ProQuest National Newspapers
> Premier):
> >
> >
> > AUSTIN - ``What part of NO don't you understand?''
> >
> > The sign, posted in several places on the walls of the House
> Appropriations Committee's meeting room, elicited nervous grins from state
> bureaucrats and lobbyists who had survived the painful budget cuts of 1986
> and 1987.
> >
> > The budget writers sitting behind the big horseshoe-shaped table still
> uttered the dreaded, two-letter word a lot more than their audience cared
> to hear, but they also rediscovered the political pleasure of being able to
> say, ``yes.''
> >
> >
> >
> > ProQuest has a couple more political uses of the phrase, then this brief
> reference from the Chicago Tribune (Feb. 1, 1990):  "Song Title of the
> Week: "What Part Of `No' Don't You Understand" by C. Rupp."
> >
> > Wikipedia doesn't know who "C. Rupp" is.  I don't know if that's the
> same song that was more successfully recorded by Lorrie Morgan in 1992, but
> it seems likely.  That song apparently was written by Wayne Perry and
> Gerald Smith.
> >
> > So it seems that the catchphrase began as a comic sign (there are a few
> other early references to signs saying this), then was transferred to a
> sexual context and popularized by the song written by Perry & Smith.  There
> probably were isolated uses in a sexual context prior to their song.
> >
> >
> > John Baker
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
> > Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2012 4:55 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: "What part of no don't you understand?"
> >
> > 1989 _Santa Fe Reporter_  (Oct. 19) 21 [NewspArch]: Health Watch Victor
> La Cerva, M.D.[:]  RAPE MYTHS  What part of "NO" don't you understand?
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Sun, Jun 24, 2012 at 4:49 PM, Jonathan Lighter <
> wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:
> >
> >> 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
> >>> -----------------------
> >>> 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
> >>>
> >>> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >>> 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."
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "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
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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