[Ads-l] cut the mustard

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Wilson wrote:
> I've long been under the impression that it's the *doer* of the good deed
> who is punished and not the *recipient* of it. But,
>
> Youneverknow.

Wilson: I agree with your analysis.

The anti-proverb "no good deed is unpunished" is a subversion of the
proverb "no good deed is unrewarded". The punishment or reward is
allotted to the principal actor by providence, karma, or the hand of
God.

Barry Popik has an entry for "No good deed goes unpunished (in
Washington)" with key citations in 1938 and 1942. YBQ also has an
entry.

http://bit.ly/1rVgL0A

http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/no_good_deed_goes_unpunished_in_washington

[Begin excerpt]
New York columnist Walter Winchell (1897-1972) wrote this in his
column of October 5, 1942: "Reminds me of the line diplomats use: 'No
good deed goes unpunished in Washington.'" It is probable that
Winchell popularized the saying. There is a 1938 citation that is
similar: "'Every good deed brings its own punishment.'"
[End excerpt]

Garson


On Wed, Dec 3, 2014 at 8:28 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: cut the mustard
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Wed, Dec 3, 2014 at 12:57 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <
> adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Website: Early Sports and Pop Culture History Blog
>> Date: May 5, 2014
>> Article: History and Etymology of "Cut the Mustard" - Locusts, Bad
>> Seeds, Invasive Species and Politics
>>
>> http://esnpc.blogspot.com/2014/05/history-and-etymology-of-cut-mustard.html
>>
>
> An interesting read, as is much else on the site: "Little Joe from Chicago"
> = 4 [foU]. But, I find one usage confusing.
>
> "In
>  _an unintended result that goes to prove the old adage that no good deed
> goes unpunished_,
> twenty years after the grasshopper plagues, the Minneapolis (Minnesota)
> Journal reported that:
>
> Some nineteen or twenty years ago there was a failure of crops on account
> of hail and grasshoppers for two or three successive years, until there was
> no seed in the country.  All the seed grain used the following spring along
> the Omaha road and the whole surrounding country was shipped in from the
> East by one company.  This seed contained mustard.  From that time until
> now it has grown worse and worse."
>
> I've long been under the impression that it's the *doer* of the good deed
> who is punished and not the *recipient* of it. But,
>
> Youneverknow.
>
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
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