[Ads-l] Don't urinate on my leg...

Sat Jun 11 16:24:02 UTC 2016

Thanks, Garson.

SWAG: "Spit in my face..." is the original form, since to "spit in
someone's face" is a long-established idiom.

JL

On Sat, Jun 11, 2016 at 12:07 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> There is an error in the 1957 citation excerpt. I forgot to correct an
> OCR error. The word "lace" should have been "face".
>
> On Sat, Jun 11, 2016 at 11:49 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Here is a variant in 1957 with a different fluid.
>>
>> [ref] 1957 March 6, Naugatuck Daily News, What Our Readers Think:
>> George McNamara Explains "Why I Am In This Race", Quote Page 8, Column
>> 7, Naugatuck, Connecticut. (NewspaperArchive)[/ref]
>>
>> [End excerpt]
>> These out of town politicians might know their (hogs) and their corn
>> cobs and be able to fool the village yokels but no one is going to
>> spit in my lace and tell me it's raining. I know better.
>> Sincerely yours,
>> GEORGE E. MCNAMARA
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>>
>> Below is an instance that was spoken on August 7, 1970. I suspect this
>> is a bowdlerized version (bowdlerized by the speaker; not the
>> transcriber).
>>
>> Year: 1972
>> Title: Sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention, Record of
>> Proceedings: Verbatim transcripts: August 6, 1970 to September 3, 1970
>> Volume 5
>> Date: August 7, 1970
>> Speaker: Mr. Patch (Delegate Patch)
>> Quote Page 3774
>> Database: Full View in Illinois Digital Archives (Also snippet view in
>> Google Books)
>>
>> http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/isl2/id/6263/rec/12
>>
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> Who are we kidding? You know, there's an old saying, you know, "Don't
>> pour that water in my face and tell me it's raining."
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>>
>> There is an instance in the play "Five on the Black Hand Side". The
>> first copyright date of the volume in full view in GB is 1969, but a
>> note says that the play was revised and rewritten in 1977. There is
>> also a match in a GB volume with a 1973 date, so it is possible that
>> the phrase did appear in the 1969 play, but GB dates for plays are
>> highly unreliable. Verification is needed.
>>
>> Year: 1969 copyright (revised and rewritten in 1977)
>> Title: Five on the Black Hand Side: A Play in Three Acts
>> Author: Charlie L. Russell
>> Act I
>> Quote Page 20
>>
>> https://books.google.com/books?id=RF-Mc05XGvgC&q=raining#v=snippet&q=raining&f=false
>>
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> GIDEON. That's because you don't understand yourself. Hey, man,
>> sisters are some beautiful people. Man, we can't afford to get into a
>> negative thing with the sisters. How are we going to survive without
>> strong families?
>>
>> Booker T.: Tell me anything, boy. Pee on my back and tell me it's raining.
>> [Begin excerpt]
>>
>>
>> Here is the raw match for the play circa 1973 in GB. As noted
>> previously, the dates assigned to plays in GB are not reliable.
>>
>> [Begin raw match data]
>> The American Place Theatre: Plays - Page 218
>> https://books.google.com/books?id=-BuyAAAAIAAJ
>> Richard Schotter - 1973
>>
>> Hey, man, sisters are some beautiful people. Man, we can't afford to
>> get a negative thing with the sisters. How are we going to survive
>> without strong families?
>> Booker T.: Tell me anything, boy. Pee on my back and tell me it's raining.
>> [End raw match data]
>>
>>
>> Here is another raw match with a GB date of 1973.
>>
>> [Begin raw match]
>> Alias Big Cherry: the Confessions of a Master Criminal - Page 85
>> https://books.google.com/books?id=G-9AAAAAIAAJ
>> Robert H. Adleman - 1973 - ‎Snippet view
>>
>> Are you trying to spit in my face and tell me it's raining outside?"
>> Albert began to cry. Tears streaming down his face, he tried to tell
>> his story — he had used the money to pay for his sister's operation,
>> but Hoffman cut him off. "You take that kind
>> [End raw match]
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Jun 11, 2016 at 8:08 AM, Jonathan Lighter
>> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Back in 1976, in the great Western _The Outlaw Josey Wales_, I noted
>>> the proverbial-sounding phrase, "Don't piss down my back and tell me
>>> it's raining." In fact, it was described in the movie as an "old
>>> saying."
>>>
>>> On rare occasions since then I've encountered "...on my leg..." and
>>> "...on my shoe..."
>>>
>>> Today on CNN an anti-Trump Republican strategist admonished a Trump
>>> apologist, "Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining."
>>>
>>> Which was the exact title of an outspoken social and judicial critique
>>> by Judge Judy (1996).
>>>
>>> Even more surprising to us old folks is  _Piss in My Face and Tell Me
>>> It's Raining_ (2015), by Christian feminist Tina Perry.
>>>
>>> Does anybody know if these phrases go back much  before 1976?  GB
>>> gives little reason to think so.
>>>
>>> JL
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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