[Ads-l] shoot one's wad (1860)

[Baker, John]

I think that jokes, and especially dirty jokes, were told much more frequently in the past.  Probably a key reason is the rise of discount brokerage.  Back when stockbrokers offered a much more personalized service, individual stockbrokers (once known as customers’ men, but now known as registered representatives) would call up their customers and start out with a joke.  This was actually a key vector in the dissemination of new jokes.  But brokerage commissions are too low today to justify calling customers in the hope of getting an order.


John Baker


From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
Sent: Tuesday, August 8, 2017 9:30 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: shoot one's wad (1860)

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Actually the date is 1934 (vol. I was 1927).

1934 "J. Mortimer Hall" _Anecdota Americana_ II (rpt. N. Hollywood: Brandon
House, 1968) : He no sooner mounts me than he shoots his load and is
through.

It must have taken many, many years to compile this collection of dirty
jokes - unless they were a lot more commonly told than they are now.

JL



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