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

[Dave Hause]

It may be that there's no "shade-tree quarterback," on the model of 
"shade-tree mechanic" because the "shade-tree mechanic" actually DOES 
mechanic work (and may even get paid for it on occasion) while the "arm 
chair whatevers" are actually only critics who neither practice nor are paid 
for the craft they criticize
Dave Hause
-----Original Message----- 
From: Ben Zimmer
Sent: Thursday, December 8, 2016 12:23 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: "[Blank] Quarterback" - Second-guessing

Interesting convergence of idioms here... "drugstore" from "drugstore
cowboy," "armchair" from "armchair critic/strategist/general" (all of these
"armchair" roles, including QB, are now in OED3 online). But it looks like
there's no such thing as a "shade-tree quarterback," on the model of
"shade-tree mechanic."

On Wed, Dec 7, 2016 at 3:56 PM, Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:

>
> I heard the expression "armchair quarterback" the other day, prompting me
> to take a second look.  There are at least four "[blank] quarterback"
> idioms that antedate "Monday morning quarterback," and more than a dozen
> that followed it.
>
>
> The earliest ones are:
>
>
> "Grandstand quarterback," "As Joe Williams Sees It," Pittsburgh Press,
> October 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 Moines
> Register, September 28, 1928, page 12.
>
>
> "Drugstore quarterback" (perhaps influenced by the earlier "drugstore
> cowboy"), 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
> became the most common one after it first appeared in print, although
> "Sunday morning" appeared more frequently thereafter as well.  "Grandstand
> quarterback" was more common than "Sunday morning quarterback" before and
> after "Monday morning quarterback."
>
>
> Later variants include: armchair, bleacher, radio, parlor, easy chair,
> soda fountain, day-after, living room, television (or TV), beer parlor and
> beer garden quarterbacks, although a few of them only show up one or a few
> times.  "Armchair", "bleacher," "drugstore" and "television" return a
> significant number of hits over a long period of time.
>
>
> My post: http://esnpc.blogspot.com/2016/12/grandstands-armchairs-
> and-drugstores.html
>

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