[Ads-l] "Fish Without a Bicycle" Quote

[MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY RDECOM AMRDEC (US)]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Shapiro, Fred
> Sent: Saturday, October 08, 2016 2:46 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: "Fish Without a Bicycle" Quote
> 
> 
> I took a break from wondering whether I have to make a quotation about grabbing women "by the pussy" as my Quotation of the Year to
> revisit one of my favorite quotes of the past half-century.

Let us know when you figure it out.

> 
> 
> Bill Mullins has pushed the earliest documented example of "A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle" back to June 5, 1976.
> Garson O'Toole pushed the earliest attestation of the similar "[A] woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" back to May 5, 1976.
> 
> 

The following predecessor is mentioned in the archives, but I don't see it accurately dated anywhere:

_Madison [WI] Capital Times_ 25 July 1972 p 32 col 4 [newspaperarchive.com]

"While I have felt for years that a man without religion is like a fish without a bicycle, I long ago gave up fighting people's superstitious beliefs."

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