[Ads-l] "[Blank] Quarterback" - Second-guessing

[Peter Reitan]

Thank you.

After posting, a reader suggested that "armchair general" might be older.  It is.

In a quick few searches, I could find only a fee, sporadic early examples, the earliest from an article written shortly after Ulysses S Grant died.  It noted that the soldiers and officers respected each other, it was only the "armchair generals" back home who bore grudges.

Yorkville enquirer (South Carolina), July 30, 1885, page 2.  Chronicling America.
________________________________
From: ADSGarson O'Toole<mailto:adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: ‎12/‎8/‎2016 9:52
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: "[Blank] Quarterback" - Second-guessing

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Impressive work, Peter. Thanks for sharing it via your website.
Garson

On Wed, Dec 7, 2016 at 3:56 PM, Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:
> I revisited the expression "Monday morning quarterback" that I wrote abou=
t on my blog a couple years ago.  My earlier effort missed the big picture.
>
>
> "Monday morning quarterback" has been discussed here in the past, with Ba=
rry Popik pointing out the earliest example of "Monday morning quarterback"=
 in the New York Times, December 5, 1931 and Ben Zimmer noting that "Sunday=
 morning quarterback" antedated MMQ by more than a year.
>
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2006-July/061131.html
>
>
> I heard the expression "armchair quarterback" the other day, prompting me=
 to take a second look.  There are at least four "[blank] quarterback" idio=
ms that antedate "Monday morning quarterback," and more than a dozen that f=
ollowed it.
>
>
> The earliest ones are:
>
>
> "Grandstand quarterback," "As Joe Williams Sees It," Pittsburgh Press, Oc=
tober 17, 1927, page 31.
>
>
> "Cigar store quarterback" (one example), Rochester Democrat and Chronicle=
, October 22, 1927, page 9.
>
>
> "Sunday morning quarterback," Knute Rockne's syndicated column, Des Moine=
s Register, September 28, 1928, page 12.
>
>
> "Drugstore quarterback" (perhaps influenced by the earlier "drugstore cow=
boy"), Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, November 22, 1931, page 13.
>
>
> "Sunday morning quarterback" appeared in print only sporadically before "=
Monday morning quarterback."   "Monday morning quarterback" immediately bec=
ame the most common one after it first appeared in print, although "Sunday =
morning" appeared more frequently thereafter as well.  "Grandstand quarterb=
ack" was more common than "Sunday morning quarterback" before and after "Mo=
nday morning quarterback."
>
>
> Later variants include: armchair, bleacher, radio, parlor, easy chair, so=
da fountain, day-after, living room, television (or TV), beer parlor and be=
er garden quarterbacks, although a few of them only show up one or a few ti=
mes.  "Armchair", "bleacher," "drugstore" and "television" return a signifi=
cant number of hits over a long period of time.
>
>
> My post: http://esnpc.blogspot.com/2016/12/grandstands-armchairs-and-drug=
stores.html
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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

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