[Ads-l] Fw: Oscar Wilde Quote

Fri Nov 25 18:26:10 UTC 2016

Oscar Wilde died in November 1900. The two citations below appeared
after Wilde's death, but before the 1916 citation provided by Fred.

Date: January 28, 1905
Periodical: The Sporting Times
Periodical Location: London, England
Article: Sporting Notes
Quote Page 1, Column 1
Database: britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

[Begin excerpt]
Coming out of the "Victoria" they were discussing Admiral
Rodjestvensky and the Russian people.

"It's just this in Russia," said an Irish barrister from Calcutta,
"it's just this way. In Russia work is the curse of the drinking
classes!"
[End excerpt]

Date: July 22, 1906
Newspaper: The Philadelphia Inquirer
Newspaper Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
A Fin. Ricki's Chat About: Clubs and Clubmen
Quote Page 8, Column 5
Database: newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
Four well-known young clubmen, two of whom were married, and all
hailing from Washington, came to Atlantic City on a bit of a tear the
other day, and at a prominent cafe one evening one of them repeated
the following toast, apropos of their cases:

"Too much toil with no vacation,
Justifies a slight libation;
So here's a toast, now drain your glasses,
Work in the curse of the drinking classes."
[End excerpt]

Note: The original text contains a misprint "Work in the curse"
appears instead of "Work is the curse".

Garson

On Fri, Nov 25, 2016 at 11:16 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:
> ?
>
> Saturday Evening Post April 15, 1911 p80 c3.
>
> quoted by James H. Collins?
>
> ________________________________
> From: Stephen Goranson
> Sent: Friday, November 25, 2016 11:04 AM
> To: American Dialect Society
> Subject: Re: Oscar Wilde Quote
>
>
> 1911 p.59
>
> Cutting it out; how to get on the waterwagon and stay there, Samuel G. Blythe.
> Main Author: Blythe, Samuel G. 1868-1947.<https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Search/Home?lookfor=%22Blythe,%20Samuel%20G.%201868-1947.%22&type=author&inst=> Language(s): English Published: Chicago, Forbes & company, 1913.
> Subjects: Alcoholism.<https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Search/Home?lookfor=%22%20Alcoholism.%22&type=subject&inst=>
> Note: "This work originally appeared in the Saturday evening post under the title 'on the waterwagon'."
> Physical Description: 3 p. l., 9-60 p. 17 1/2cm.
>
>
> Stephen Goranson
>
> http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <...> on behalf of Shapiro, Fred <...>
> Sent: Friday, November 25, 2016 10:59 AM
> To: ...
> Subject: [ADS-L] Oscar Wilde Quote
>
> In the Yale Book of Quotations I source the quote "Work is the curse of the drinking classes" to Oscar Wilde, Quoted in Frank Harris, Oscar Wilde: His Life and Confessions (1916).  I now believe, however, that there are earlier occurrences not attributed to Wilde.  I would welcome help in finding the earliest occurrence in newspaper databases, book databases, etc.
>
>
> Fred Shapiro
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.americandialect.org&d=CwIFAw&c=imBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=uUVa-8oDL2EzfbuMuowoUadHHcJ7pjul6iFkS5Pd--8&m=up3vgQXwMqdYIigi6fkNGGqnESLFMHwCyhtmW9pnc6g&s=67AUFN3LMGwUAJe2o2pMoz7X2WBWHEdrdzwEzGvE1nM&e=>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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