[Ads-l] QOTY? multiple positions

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Original meaning of "positions": Sexual positions of humans
1981 Jul 31: Sexual positions of squids
1982 Dec 03: Martial arts positions of humans (Found by Bill Mullins)
1983 Feb 23: Political positions of humans

Date: February 23, 1983
Newspaper: Albuquerque Journal
Newspaper Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Article: Hart Just One of 'Cavalcade of Stars'
Author: Sandy Grady (Knight-Ridder Newspapers)
Quote Page 5, Column 2

[Begin excerpt]
Gary Hart - The Xerox Machine: Name an issue and he'll flood you with
think tank pieces, documents, white papers Has more positions than the
Kama Sutra. Big on high-tech jargon.
[End excerpt]

I only looked in Newspapers.com. So there is room for improvement in
these dates.


On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 11:01 AM, Joel Berson <berson at att.net> wrote:
> The dates below suggest a shift from squid to humans rather than the other way 'round.
>
> I would be very interested in the earliest application(s) to politicians, however.
>
> Joel
>
>
>       From: ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>  To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>  Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2016 8:44 PM
>  Subject: Re: [ADS-L] QOTY? multiple positions
>
> Bill Mullins wrote
>> _Chicago Tribune_ 3 Dec 1982 sec 3 p 13 col 2
>> [article about martial arts studio]
>> "They fight with everything at Degerberg; all parts of the body
>> in more positions than the Kama Sutra."
>
> Below is an instance of the phrase in 1981. The domain of application
> was shifted from humans to squid.
>
> Date: July 31, 1981
> Newspaper: Santa Cruz Sentinel
> Newspaper Location: Santa Cruz, California
> Article: Squid: From Bait to Plate
> Author: Greg Beebe (Sentinel Staff Writer)
> (Continuation title) From Bait to Plate
> Start Page 17, Quote Page 26
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> "Did you know that squid have both male and female sex organs? How kinky."
> "Squid are instinctively driven — they have to mate. They have these
> 72-hour sex marathons. Each has 10 arms and tentacles — hey, that's
> more positions than the Kama Sutra. When they're through, they're so
> exhausted the fishermen just pick 'em up off the surface of the sea."
> [End excerpt]
>
> On Tue, Jun 28, 2016 at 5:14 PM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Tue, Jun 28, 2016 at 4:52 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> > On Jun 28, 2016, at 4:35 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>>> wrote:
>>> >
>>> > I heard this once before, most likely on _Veep_, as "has got more
>>> > positions than the Kama Sutra."
>>> >
>>> > Now apparently defunct,
>>>
>>> On hiatus, I believe.  Not at all defunct.  (Those with premium cable are
>>> in a better position to weigh in on this.)
>>>
>>
>> Last Sunday was the finale of Season 5 -- we'll have to wait until next
>> year for Season 6. Plenty of time to catch up and log all the colorful
>> vulgarities.
>>
>> I don't recall the Kama Sutra line getting used on "Veep," but Mike
>> Huckabee reportedly said it about Mitt Romney in 2008, according to the
>> pundit Mark Shields a few years later:
>>
>> https://archive.org/details/KQED_20110904_220000_Inside_Washington#start/1020/end/1080
>> http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/noel-sheppard/2011/09/03/mark-shields-romney-has-more-positions-kama-sutra
>>
>>  --bgz
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
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>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>
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