"call it quits" as phrasal eggcorn?

Thu Mar 27 23:51:55 UTC 2014

On Mar 27, 2014, at 5:10 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole wrote:

> Here is some information about the relevant senses listed in the OED
> together with some of the citations.
>
> quits 2 a. Even or equal with, esp. by means of repayment or retaliation.
>
> to cry quits: to declare oneself equal or even with another (cf.
> quittance n. Phrases 2) (now rare). double or quits: see double adv.
> 4.
> ...
>
> quits 2 b. to call (it) quits = to cry quits at sense A. 2a; (also) to
> abandon a quarrel, venture, etc., esp. in order to cut one's losses.
>
> 1851   Democratic State Reg. (Watertown, Wisconsin) 23 June 2/3   We
> have discontinued our paper to the following individuals, who have
> neglected to pay up arrearages... Hand up the balance due and we will
> call it quits.
>
> 1898   J. London Let. 30 Nov. (1966) 5   Tomorrow I would cut my
> throat and call quits with the whole cursed business.
>
> 1950   Manch. Guardian Weekly 16 Mar. 2/2   The old isolationists want
> to 'call quits' on the whole business.
>
> 1963   J. Joesten They call it Intelligence ii. viii. 75   Vic smelled
> a rat and decided to call it quits.
>
> LH suggested that the 1963 cite is the first one illustrating the
> sense "abandon a quarrel, venture". Personally I cannot tell which
> sense the 1950 citation illustrates without more context.
>
> Here is a 1955 instance for "abandon a venture".

Point taken.  You might be right about the 'quit, abandon a venture' sense for a couple of the earlier ones too; I'm probably being swayed by my own limited understanding of "call (it) quits" as limited to the first of the OED senses.  I still think this is a phrasal eggcorn or reanalysis whenever it originated (even if it was back in ancient history, i.e. before I was born).

LH
>
> [ref] 1955 March 30, Oregonian, Section 2, Justice Quits Pro Football,
> Quote Page 3, Column 4, Portland, Oregon. (GenealogyBank)[/ref]
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> CHAPEL HILLS, N.C. (AP)
> Charlie Justice, a star halfback for the Washington professional
> Redskins for the last five years, said here Tuesday he is "definitely
> through with football."
>
> The ex-University of North Carolina halfback, now 31, told newsmen:
> "For several reasons, I am calling it quits."
>
> Justice said he had accepted a job with an oil company here and will
> begin work April 1.
> ...
>
> The short stocky Justice, who was selected as an all-American twice in
> the late 1940s, had threatened to quit the pro game several times but
> always went back for one more year.
>
> "This time I definitely mean to quit," he said. "I'm through with football."
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 27, 2014 at 4:12 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>> Subject:      Re: "call it quits" as phrasal eggcorn?
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> At 3/27/2014 02:51 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>>> Really interesting, this "dialect split".  Amazing that we can all
>>> claim to be the same language when we can't agree on what calling it
>>> quits entails!  (As indicated, I'm with Dan on this,
>>
>> I am too, having the multiple possible meanings.  Except I can
>> generalize "I'm calling it quits" to mean "I'm finished with it" even
>> when it's not even and not about a deteriorated
>> relationship.  However, I don't have a similar understanding of
>> "We're quits" -- that requires some consent from the other person.
>>
>> In my previous message I was only discussing the "we're even" sense.
>>
>> Joel
>>
>>> while Herb and Wilson are in the other camp and Neal is, or was,
>>> sitting it out.  Who knew?)
>>>
>>> LH
>>>
>>> On Mar 27, 2014, at 12:33 PM, Dan Goncharoff wrote:
>>>
>>>> I have it in several contexts. In a game or contest, it means walking away
>>>> with no one declared a winner. The same would be true of an argument -- no
>>>> one wins, both sides end the discussion. The only way it could constitute
>>>> the end of a relationship is if the relationship had deteriorated to
>>>> nothing more than a never-ending argument.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> DanG
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Mar 27, 2014 at 11:08 AM, Herb Stahlke
>>> <hfwstahlke at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>>> -----------------------
>>>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>>> Poster:       Herb Stahlke <hfwstahlke at GMAIL.COM>
>>>>> Subject:      Re: "call it quits" as phrasal eggcorn?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>> No.  For me it means whatever relationship we had is over.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, Mar 27, 2014 at 12:00 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>>>> -----------------------
>>>>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>>>> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>>>>> Subject:      Re: "call it quits" as phrasal eggcorn?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Do you guys have "we're quits" meaning "we're even"?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> LH
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Mar 26, 2014, at 11:53 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 10:30 PM, Neal Whitman <nwhitman at ameritech.net
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> This message is the first intimation I ever had that "call it quits"
>>>>>>>> meant anything other than "quit".
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> It's news to me, too.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> 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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