[Ads-l] Oscar Wilde Quote

Sat Nov 26 14:18:54 UTC 2016

That's a great find, Garson.  I love the register-coding between the two interlocutors (to match the difference in attire).  And another caption on the same page has a classic exchange I've used in class when discussing focus effects:

"Oh Tom, I believe you're marrying me because I inherited a million from my uncle."
"Oh no, I'd marry you no matter from whom you inherited the money."

(Note the "from whom"--in more recent versions of the joke the mercenary fiancé refrains from pied piping the pronoun.)

LH

> On Nov 25, 2016, at 8:36 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> The quip appeared in the caption of a cartoon in April 1902:
> 
> Date: April 08, 1902
> Newspaper: Ottumwa Semi-Weekly Courier
> Newspaper Location: Ottumwa, Iowa
> Cartoon Title: VICE VERSA
> Description: One-Panel Cartoon Caption
> Quote Page 10
> Database: Chronicling America
> 
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__chroniclingamerica.loc.gov_lccn_sn86061214_1902-2D04-2D08_ed-2D1_seq-2D10.pdf&d=CwIFaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=JEHqhApfM43Sic_ImVrd9nrY-GEUaHITAC5_JeENl5Q&s=r9RJKHOmfbdFc3TWwL3AvpcbIwRA-SQFYQGRITcbLP4&e= 
> 
> [Begin caption]
> "I tell you, my friend, drink is the
> curse of the working classes."
> "And I tells you work is the curse of
> the drinkin' classes."
> [End caption]
> 
> Garson
> 
> 
> On Fri, Nov 25, 2016 at 1:26 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 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://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__catalog.hathitrust.org_Search_Home-3Flookfor-3D-2522Blythe-2C-2520Samuel-2520G.-25201868-2D1947.-2522-26type-3Dauthor-26inst-3D&d=CwIFaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=JEHqhApfM43Sic_ImVrd9nrY-GEUaHITAC5_JeENl5Q&s=CP5y6Bp2tB0FTdN7U4O9PrY3HsJTy0X0dwirrsyMpk4&e= > Language(s): English Published: Chicago, Forbes & company, 1913.
>>> Subjects: Alcoholism.<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__catalog.hathitrust.org_Search_Home-3Flookfor-3D-2522-2520Alcoholism.-2522-26type-3Dsubject-26inst-3D&d=CwIFaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=JEHqhApfM43Sic_ImVrd9nrY-GEUaHITAC5_JeENl5Q&s=-e6ALm2ZgmwwPTwSLy_EPFCCtia_uKszekgMKIhTeoI&e= >
>>> 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
>>> 
>>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__people.duke.edu_-7Egoranson_&d=CwIFaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=JEHqhApfM43Sic_ImVrd9nrY-GEUaHITAC5_JeENl5Q&s=TtSiNzt-g38aD-sNi-eNR2X0gGn5HxkPkWf-9VdX2-Y&e= 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> ________________________________
>>> 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=>
>>> 
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
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> 
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