[Ads-l] QOTY? multiple positions (UNCLASSIFIED)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Below is a precursor that appeared in May 1975 a couple years before
the 1977 book with the Mark Shields attribution. Shields may have
spoken the phrase during Carter's campaign in 1976 (or earlier).

The domain of this example was ballet, and the referent was physical
positions of the human body and not political positions.

This instance used "more varied postures" instead of "more positions".
Also, it used "Kamasutra" instead of "Kama Sutra".

The key quotation is supposed to be in the book under review titled
"Dance Is a Contact Sport" which according to WorldCat was first
published in 1974.

Date: May 9, 1975
Newspaper: Elk Grove Herald
Newspaper Location: Elk Grove Village, Illinois
Section: 2
Article: Book on ballet shows performers as people
Byline: Lynn Asinof
(Book review of "Dance Is a Contact Sport" by Joseph H. Mazo)
Quote Page 2, Column 1
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
"REMEMBER, ballet is impossible," Mazo writes. "It has more varied
postures than the Kamasutra. It repeals the laws of gravity and
inertia. It can't be done. If God had wanted us to stand with our toes
pointing in opposite directions, he would have bought a load of ball
bearings and installed them instead of using hip joints."
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 3:43 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> Excellent find, LH. Here is an excerpt from a book with a 1977 GB
> date. (Now, I see that Ben has already replied. But the slightly
> longer excerpt might be useful.)
>
> Year: 1977
> Title: Promises to Keep: Carter's First Hundred Days
> Author: Robert Shogan
> Quote Page 43
> Database: Google Books snippet; data may be inaccurate and should be
> verified on paper
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> The critics replied that Carter's fault was not that he had too few
> positions on issues — but rather that he had too many positions on
> each issue. "He has more positions than the Kama Sutra," Mark Shields,
> one of Morris Udall's advisers, wisecracked.
> [End excerpt]
>
> On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 3:30 PM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
>> In Robert Shogan's _Promises To Keep: Carter's First Hundred Days_ (1977),
>> it's credited to Mark Shields, who was an adviser to Mo Udall in the '76
>> campaign.
>>
>> https://books.google.com/books?id=Xpx4AAAAMAAJ&q=%22kama+sutra%22
>>
>> Interestingly, it was Shields who later attributed the line to Huckabee re
>> Romney.
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 2:54 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Here's one in which it's reported as having been used to describe Jimmy
>>> Carter, so back to the late 70s or so:
>>> http://tinyurl.com/jn2oacp
>>>
>>> Appropriate, I suppose, given the Lto-do about Carter's admission during
>>> one of the debates that he "lusted after women in [his] heart".
>>>
>>>
>>> > On Jun 29, 2016, at 12:14 PM, Mullins, Bill CIV (US) <
>>> william.d.mullins18.civ at MAIL.MIL> 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.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Elyria OH _Chronicle-Telegram _  27 Feb 1983 p B2 col 3 [
>>> newspaperarchive.com]
>>> > [syndicated column, referring to Gary Hart]
>>> > "He has more positions than the Kama Sutra."
>>> >
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>      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]
>>> >>
>>> >
>>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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