[Ads-l] "off the cuff" antedated to 1934 (UNCLASSIFIED)

Mon Feb 23 19:26:32 UTC 2015

The 1925 ex. seems unusually  to mean "out of debt."  ("On the cuff" = 'on
credit.')

JL

On Mon, Feb 23, 2015 at 1:38 PM, Mullins, Bill CIV (US) <
william.d.mullins18.civ at mail.mil> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill CIV (US)" <william.d.mullins18.civ at MAIL.MIL>
> Subject:      Re: "off the cuff" antedated to 1934 (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> _Variety_ 29 Apr 1925 p 21 col 4
> [review of theatrical show]
> "Didn't have a chance and producer and theater were smart enough to go
> afte=
> r the two for ones.  Kept house from going dark and will just about get
> off=
>  the cuff."
>
> _Photoplay_ Apr 1926 pp 50-51
> "Mickey Neilan was some seven hours late on his set one day.  And the
> compa=
> ny waited and shivered -- and then shivered and waited some more.
> "Must have lost his script," hazarded a member of the cast.
> "Sure," says the prop boy.  "Must have lost his script and is now hunting
> t=
> hrough all the shirts in the Hollywood laundry to find it."
> (You see, Mickey Neilan is famous for being one of the few surviving
> direct=
> ors who "shoot from the cuff" -- which means the only script he ever has
> is=
>  what's in his head, aided by an occasional note on his cuff.)"
>
> _Hollywood Vagabond_ 28 Apr 1927 p 5 col 3
> "We don't get out here in the lights and then try to find out what's going
> =
> to happen.  We read the script, know the story and throw the script away.
> =
> Then we come out on the set and shoot it off the cuff."
>
> _The Film Daily_ 11 May 1930 p 5 col 2
>
> "Credit Roy Mack of the Vitaphone studio with the one about the director
> wh=
> o was shooting off the cuff and moaned that he had washed his shirt and
> los=
> t the script."
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> > Behalf Of ADSGarson O'Toole
> > Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2015 1:26 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: "off the cuff" antedated to 1934
> >=20
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header ---------------
> > --------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: "off the cuff" antedated to 1934
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --------
> >=20
> > John Baker posted some valuable material to the ADS list in 2012 on the
> > "off the cuff" topic:
> >=20
> > http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2012-
> > August/121540.html
> >=20
> > I found some cites for "shoot from the cuff" starting in July 17, 1927:
> >=20
> > http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2012-
> > August/121545.html
> >=20
> > Garson
> >=20
> > On Sat, Feb 21, 2015 at 11:58 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu>
> > wrote:
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header -------------
> > ----------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
> > > Subject:      Re: "off the cuff" antedated to 1934
> > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > -
> > > ---------
> > >
> > > =3D0A=3D
> > > =3D0A=3D
> > > July 31, 1932. Times-Picayune [New Orleans], Section 2, p. 5, col. 1.
> > > Headl=3D
> > > ine: Movie Formula Revived with Uproar Unknown to Silents.=3D0A=3D
> > > =3D85."you never know where a picture is going these
> days"=3D85."Right,=
> "
> > > he [a =3D studio head] beamed,"it was shot right off the cuff every
> > > morning=3D85isn't t=3D hat phenomenal?" [The same paper has an iffy
> Sep=
> t.
> > > 1, 1929 use: "=3D85.I pick=3D ed one off the cuff and gave it to him
> fo=
> r
> > > free."=3D96horse racing tip.]=3D0A=3D =3D0A=3D
> > > ________________________________________=3D0A=3D
> > > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> > > Stephe=3D n Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>=3D0A=3D
> > > Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2015 10:48 AM=3D0A=3D
> > > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU=3D0A=3D
> > > Subject: [ADS-L] "off the cuff" antedated to 1934=3D0A=3D =3D0A=3D The
> > > previous earliest mentioned was Aug. 16, 1936 (discussed at Language
> > > Lo=3D g and Early Sports and Pop Culture History Blog).=3D0A=3D =3D0A=
> =3D Gene
> > > Fowler, Father Goose The Story of Mack Sennett (NY: Covici, Friede,
> > > 19=3D
> > > 34) page 147:=3D0A=3D
> > > He set up his cameras with showmanlike haste and began shooting
> > > extemporane=3D ously-, or, "off the cuff."=3D0A=3D
> > >
> >
> http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=3D3Dmdp.39015003982835;view=3D3D1up=
> ;
> > > seq=3D
> > > =3D3D161=3D0A=3D
> > > =3D0A=3D
> > > =3D0A=3D
> > > Stephen Goranson=3D0A=3D
> > > =3D0A=3D
> > > http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/=3D0A=3D
> > > =3D0A=3D
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------=3D0A=3D
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org=3D0A=3D
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >=20
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> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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