- "The Cliff-Hanger", episode 3

[Joel S. Berson]

Today I've been thrown off the cliff without a net (or balloon rope).

Peter:  "The word 'cliffhanger' was inshpired by sherial filmsh in
the early daysh of moviesh, like 'The Perilsh of Pauline' and 'The
Hazardsh of Helen'! The heroine would shometimesh be LITERALLY
hanging off a cliff at the end of an epishode! And eventually
'cliffhanger' became part of the language!"

So Lincoln Peirce too associates "clifhanger" with "Pauline" ... but
Peter does not cite his sources.

http://www.gocomics.com/bignate/2014/03/18#.UyiL_M5N2z4

In the comments there are some on the OED.  And for your
consideration, a new theory:

"The term "cliffhanger" actually originated in the late 1800's, as a
result of the serialization of "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte.
At the end of each chapter, Earnshaw, Catherine's father, becomes
exasperated with Heathcliff and threatens to hang him from the
nearest tree if he doesn't straighten up. Heathcliff, young rascal
that he is, simply moves on to the next scrape involving drugs,
music, petty crime and pre-marital sexcapades, further enraging
Earnshaw. The reason the term "cliffhanger" is associated with films
is that the most popular early filmization of "Wuthering Heights" was
the Laurel & Hardy version, featuring Laurel as Heathcliff, James
Finlayson as Earnshaw, and Hardy as the stunned servant, Thrushcross."

Joel

At 3/17/2014 10:22 AM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>Sorry, I sent the link to Saturday's strip.  Here's today's:
>http://www.gocomics.com/bignate/2014/03/17#.UycE6s5N2z4
>
>JSB
>
>Saturday the storyteller left me hanging by posing the question, and
>concluding with the lines
>
>"What will happen NEXT?"
>"Oh, that'sh sho EASHY!".
>
>Today Gina struggles to answer the question ("What caused the word to
>be invented in the first place?"), and episode 2 ends with:
>
>"Is that DOUBT I see?"
>"I don't think she knows!"
>"Oh, for heaven'sh shake! *I* know!"
>
>Cartoonist Lincoln Peirce is playing mind games with me.  How long,
>oh Lord, how long will I have to wait??
>http://www.gocomics.com/bignate/2014/03/15#.UycCXs5N2z5
>
>Joel
>
>
>At 3/16/2014 02:43 PM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>>My inability to prove that the origin of "cliff-hanger" lies in "The
>>Perils of Pauline" will be resolved, I believe, on Monday March 17,
>>when Gina answers the next question in the "Fact Town Smackdown",
>>namely "What is the origin of the word 'cliffhanger'?"
>>
>>See "Big Nate" for Saturday March 15, at
>>http://www.gocomics.com/bignate/2014/03/15#.UyXvd85N2z4
>>
>>(Somebody's been watching ADS-L.)
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org