[Ads-l] Quote: Change one letter in that phrase and you have my life story (antedating 1957 Dorothy Parker)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Way back in 2010 Fred asked about a collection of sayings attributed
to Dorothy Parker. Now I have written an article about another one of
these sayings, and Fred is acknowledged:

Change One Letter in That Phrase and You Have My Life Story
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/04/28/apples/

Garson O'Toole


On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 5:07 AM, Garson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> Goal: antedate 1968 for the following quote attributed to Dorothy Parker:
> There, but for a typographical error, is the story of my life. [re
> "ducking for apples"]
>
> Below is a 1957 variant. It is less stylish in my opinion because the
> phrase "typographical error" is absent.
>
> Cite: 1957, Charlie: The Improbable Life and Times of Charles
> MacArthur by Ben Hecht, Page 99, Harper, New York. (Google Books
> snippet view; Verified on paper)
>
> At a subsequent Halloween party, Miss Parker spoke one of her wryest
> sentences. Asked to join a group of merrymakers who were "ducking for
> apples," Dorothy said, "Change one letter in that phrase and you have
> my life story.
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=QRItAAAAIAAJ&q=merrymakers#search_anchor
>
>
> In 1967 a version with "typographical error" appears in "The Time of
> Laughter" by Corey Ford.
>
> Cite: 1967, The Time of Laughter by Corey Ford, Page 53, Little, Brown
> and Company, Boston. (Google Books snippet view; Verified on paper)
>
> The quotations could go on endlessly. There was the night that Mrs.
> Parker arrived at a Halloween party given by Herbert Bayard Swope, and
> inquired what the guests were doing. "They're ducking for apples," her
> host explained. Mrs. Parker shook her head sadly. "There, but for a
> typographical error," she sighed, "is the story of my life."
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=V_qwAAAAIAAJ&q=ducking#search_anchor
>
>
> Also in 1967 a peculiar variant appears in the Saturday Review. The
> anecdote is censored, and the primary joke is removed.
>
> Cite: 1967 November 4, Saturday Review, First of the Month by
> Cleveland Amory, Page 6, Saturday Review Associates, New York. (Google
> Books snippet view; Verified on paper)
>
> Finally, our favorite story of many a month appeared in a marvelous
> book, The Time of Laughter, by Corey Ford. Among other gems, Mr. Ford
> writes of the night Dorothy Parker arrived at a Halloween party given
> by Herbert Bayard Swope. Seeing guests in an odd position-obviously
> partaking of a new fad-Miss Parker asked what they were doing.
> "They're ducking for apples," Mr. Swope explained. Miss Parker shook
> her head. "There," she sighed, "is the story of my life."
>
> Garson

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