[Ads-l] For one's shit to stink (just like anyone else's)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Here are some citations that are late compared to the 1930 and 1940
dates. But I think these cites might be useful because they provide a
closer match to Benjamin's examples which were comparative:

Year: 1967
Title: Four-letter word games: the psychology of obscenity
Author: Renatus Hartogs; Hans Fantel
Publisher: M. Evans, New York;  distributed in association with
Delacorte Press (WorldCat info)
(Google Books snippet view; meta-data may be inaccurate; query for
"1967" shows copyright notice for 1967. So the date is probably
accurate.)

[Begin extracted text]
Driven beyond the limit of his tolerance, my patient planted both his
arms on the boss's desk, leaned across, and said quietly, "I bet your
shit stinks, too." He was of course summarily fired, which hardly
daunted his pleasure at seeing his boss flummoxed beyond all
expectations.
[End extracted text]


Year: 1976
Title: Banana
Author: Bonnie Charles Bluh
Publisher: Macmillan, 1976
Quote Page: GB 103
(Google Books snippet view; meta-data may be inaccurate; query for
"1976" shows "Copyright (c) 1976 by Bonnie Bluh". So the date is
probably accurate. Text is not visible in snippet.)

[Begin extracted text]
She walks with her back straight. Sits with self confidence. You can't
intimidate a Joanna Banana. Your shit smells just like mine. She is
telling the interviewer about her recent experience. She shows written
letters of recommendation.
[End extracted text]


Year: 1977
Title: End Product: The First Taboo
Authors: Dan Sabbath, Mandel Hall
Quote Page: 216
(Google Books snippet view; meta-data may be inaccurate)

[Begin extracted text]
Listen, Buddy: your shit stinks just as much as mine.
[End extracted text]


On Thu, Jan 22, 2015 at 7:56 AM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: For one's shit to stink (just like anyone else's)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> And with negative polarity, there's "think (or act like) one's shit
> don't stink," dated by Green's Dictionary of Slang to 1930. GDoS also
> "think one's shit smells like ice cream" (1948, The Naked and the
> Dead). Outkast offered a more floral alternative in the song "Roses."
>
> --bgz
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 22, 2015 at 3:20 AM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>>
>> I don't see this idiom on the Oxford Dictionary site, Wiktionary or the
>> ADS archives.
>>
>> Meaning - Not superior to others
>>
>> 1. Silke Tudor
>> (http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/the-lioness-in-winter/Content?oid=2142771)
>>
>> -----
>> "Aw, my shit stinks just like anyone else's," grouses Calvello, running
>> a heavily ornamented hand through her short platinum hair. "The key is
>> to love people, to treat everyone like a human being."
>> -----
>>
>> 2. amul566 (https://plus.google.com/106684115183676586111/posts):
>>
>> -----
>> I'm not perfect, my shit stinks just like every one else, but this shit
>> is beneath me, I'm not going fucking hold a torch to someone because of
>> a fucking game dude, grow-up, everyone makes mistakes, furthermore this
>> is between Bebo and Denise, let them sort it the fuck out if they want
>> to, and don't drag me in to, because you ran off as soon as the gun tooted.
>> -----
>>
>> 3. crazyfirdayman
>> (http://makingsensecom.blogspot.com/2013/11/shop-at-bluewater-no-thanks-im-not.html)
>>
>> -----
>> It makes me wonder if these wonderful individuals actually have smelly
>> shit.
>>
>> ...
>>
>> Lastly, yes my shit stinks just like anyone elses.  Although I wish it
>> didn't. But hell, it is good to be a normalish human being.
>> -----
>
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