[Ads-l] Modern Proverb: Tie - like kissing your sister

[Geoff Nunberg]

To be sure, there are those who take satisfaction when a competition ends in a draw, and who, mindful of the incestuous pleasures in which some notable figures have dabbled, refer to such an outcome as a Byronic tie. 

Geoff



> On Oct 2, 2016, at 11:46 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> Thanks for the responses Doug, Robin, and Charlie. The sibling simile
> was applied to the consumption of tasteless veal in 1854.
> 
> Year: 1854
> Book Title: Table Traits, with Something on Them
> Author: Dr. Doran (John Doran)
> Publisher: Richard Bentley, London
> Chapter: The Materials for Dining
> Quote Page 155
> 
> https://books.google.com/books?id=6IthAAAAcAAJ&q=%22as+kissing%22#v=snippet&
> 
> [Begin excerpt]
> It is poor food at any time; but the German veal is the most tasteless
> of meats. There, indeed, is applicable the smart saying of that ardent
> young experimentalist who declared that eating veal was as insipid an
> enjoyment as kissing one's sister!
> [End excerpt]
> 
> Garson
> 
> On Sun, Oct 2, 2016 at 2:02 PM, Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at nb.net> wrote:
>> On 10/1/2016 1:17 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole wrote:
>>> 
>>> ...
>>> 
>>> Below is the same simile in April 1892 applied to typewritten letters
>>> from sweethearts. This citation is a couple months before the one
>>> listed by Barry, but the ascription, acknowledgement, and text are the
>>> same.
>>> 
>>> Date: April 3, 1892
>>> Newspaper: The Times
>>> Newspaper Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
>>> Article: Observations
>>> Acknowledgement: From Kate Field's Washington
>>> Quote Page 14, Column 5
>>> 
>>> https://www.newspapers.com/image/52505724/?terms=kissing
>>> 
>>> [Begin excerpt]
>>> Observations
>>>> From Kate Field's Washington
>>> Reading a typewritten letter from your sweetheart is like kissing your
>>> sister.
>>> [End excerpt]
>> 
>> --
>> 
>> Another analogous item, from Google Books, 1871:
>> 
>> <<Champagne without ice is like kissing one's sister-in-law -- it's
>> insipid.>>
>> 
>> ... apparently spoken by a female character in the novel "Not Wooed, But
>> Won".
>> 
>> -- Doug Wilson
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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