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

[Laurence Horn]

“Armchair linguist” must be a bit later, and not yet in OED.  1960s perhaps?

LH


> On Dec 8, 2016, at 1:44 PM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> As I noted elsethread, OED3 now has "armchair critic" (1856), "armchair
> strategist" (1888), "armchair general" (1900), and "armchair quarterback"
> (1932 -- same cite from Ottawa Journal).
> 
> 
> On Thu, Dec 8, 2016 at 1:29 PM, Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> 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
>> 
>> ---------------------- 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: "[Blank] Quarterback" - Second-guessing
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> -------------------
>> 
>> 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.
>>> 
>>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__listserv.linguistlist.org_pipermail_ads-2Dl_2006-2DJuly_061131.html&d=CwIFaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=h6SaCWHUdO4zypv1N6N7SIxR3ovc1bsVZ4ac3CPyB70&s=78Y38t0mmxPm-ztB4sIqmBA_VQUNW1RQ_Ujt5wgHQSY&e= 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 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: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__esnpc.blogspot.com_2016_12_grandstands-2Darmchairs-2D&d=CwIFaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=h6SaCWHUdO4zypv1N6N7SIxR3ovc1bsVZ4ac3CPyB70&s=ZaMzWbU_N_lSGGp_QNFkhLzauiJU_y1m96xLtmcI4ns&e= 
>> and-drugstores.html
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
> 
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