[Ads-l] Modern Proverb: Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you

Dan Goncharoff thegonch at GMAIL.COM
Fri Nov 11 17:23:07 UTC 2016


Funny, I went in another direction: "I don't have to outrun the bear, I
just have to outrun you!"

DanG

On Fri, Nov 11, 2016 at 12:13 PM, Dave Hause <dwhause at cablemo.net> wrote:

> And, I suppose by slightly cruder analogies, "Sometimes you're the pigeon,
> other times, the statue" (14 G-hits, 243 for the you're" version and 6.45M
> G-hits without the quotation marks) and "Sometimes you're the bug and other
> times you're the windshield" (875 G-hits, 523,000 without the quotation
> marks.)
> Dave Hause
> -----Original Message----- From: Stephen Goranson
> Sent: Friday, November 11, 2016 8:20 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Modern Proverb: Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the
> bear eats you
>
> Jesus says: "Blessed is the lion which a man eats so that the lion becomes
> a man. But cursed is the man whom a lion eats so that the man becomes a
> lion!"
>
> Gospel of Thomas, 7.
>
>
> Stephen Goranson
>
> http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <...> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <...>
> Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2016 1:44:04 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: [ADS-L] Modern Proverb: Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes
> the bear eats you
>
> I was sent a request to examine the saying in the subject line which I
> think can be grouped together with some other statements:
>
> 1) Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you.
> 2) Sometimes you hunt the bear, and sometimes the bear hunts you.
> 3) Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you.
>
> This topic was mentioned on this list in 2004 and 2010. There is an
> entry in the DMP and on Barry Popik's website. The QI website now has
> an entry with supplementary information:
>
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__quoteinv
> estigator.com_2016_11_10_bear-2Deats_&d=CwIBaQ&c=imBPVzF25On
> BgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=uUVa-8oDL2EzfbuMuowoU
> adHHcJ7pjul6iFkS5Pd--8&m=MiHGU5IpvO1-8Dp91GX7WJFmKb3jR_
> yXE_ALV8_jxxg&s=dwsMqp7NX-Shpzfrsg4-MMaAgWGJw5sC-Itle0_LYpo&e=
>
> [Begin acknowledgement]
> Great thanks to Sandra Ikuta whose inquiry led QI to formulate this
> question and perform this exploration. Thanks to the 2004 mailing list
> discussants including: Barry Popik, Wilson Gray, Susan Yerkes, Rima
> McKinzey, and Laurence Horn. Thanks to the 2010 mailing list
> discussants including: Arnold Zwicky, Laurence Horn, Mark Mandel, and
> Charles Doyle. In addition, thanks to Doyle et al for the entry in
> "The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs", and thanks to Doyle for verifying
> the 1939 citation. Also, gratitude to Barry Popik for his further
> valuable research.
> [End acknowledgment]
>
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.barr
> ypopik.com_index.php_new-5Fyork-5Fcity_entry_sometimes-5Fyou
> -5Feat-5Fthe-5Fbear-5Fand-5Fsometimes-5Fthe-5Fbear-
> 5Feats-5Fyou&d=CwIBaQ&c=imBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj
> _gZ4adc&r=uUVa-8oDL2EzfbuMuowoUadHHcJ7pjul6iFkS5Pd--8&m=
> MiHGU5IpvO1-8Dp91GX7WJFmKb3jR_yXE_ALV8_jxxg&s=rzRlMgi3ZoaPN0
> fDtyLLvngi3mHgMgXeDDHJVhqD86k&e=
>
> Feedback welcome,
> Garson O'Toole
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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