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

[Laurence Horn]

> On Oct 2, 2016, at 3:01 PM, Geoff Nunberg <nunbergg at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> 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
> 
> 

Well, while we're elevating the discourse by invoking to Byron and Augusta (who was actually only his half-sister, which may explain why ties sometimes count as a half-point), it might also be relevant to know that it's now possible to access an e-compilation of acts and phenomena described as being "like fucking your sister", among which are:

"drinking alcohol-free beer"
"eating a pulled pork with coleslaw and cheese sammitch"
"contributing money to your own campaign"
"self-referential garage rock"
"crypto-currency"

and, yes, "a tie"  (a victim of inflation, it appears)

LH


> 
>> 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://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__books.google.com_books-3Fid-3D6IthAAAAcAAJ-26q-3D-2522as-2Bkissing-2522-23v-3Dsnippet-26&d=CwIFAg&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=UTahdHgyYmpjhWwsO5dvRcolInUf-S4xP8VVSzzBW0g&s=G9-mttb3R4W-rxlRmJtavTmbshhQxZ8WiXW1oToOH68&e= 
>> 
>> [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://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.newspapers.com_image_52505724_-3Fterms-3Dkissing&d=CwIFAg&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=UTahdHgyYmpjhWwsO5dvRcolInUf-S4xP8VVSzzBW0g&s=BiXBXjbhy2dLHU9W4ygGmB1DWoOQiIghUjg02Ngm8Jg&e= 
>>>> 
>>>> [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 - https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.americandialect.org&d=CwIFAg&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=UTahdHgyYmpjhWwsO5dvRcolInUf-S4xP8VVSzzBW0g&s=Ziqx5mSy0_bB3dwg6Hp5Yegas2Q0aa99wl9OQS5osas&e= 
>> 
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> 
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