[Ads-l] "[Blank] Quarterback" - Second-guessing

[Mark Mandel]

And who watches football from the shade of the tree in their yard?

Mark, late again

On Dec 9, 2016 12:04 PM, "Ben Zimmer" <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:

> Perhaps so, but check out the use of "shade-tree" in this fascinating
> melange of idioms from NAACP executive director Benjamin Hooks (Baltimore
> Sun, June 30, 1986):
>
> "In picking its battles carefully and in concentrating on civil rights work
> the NAACP has had to withstand the criticism of 'the know-nothings, the
> nattering nabobs of negativism, the pseudo-intellectuals, the mental
> midgets, the Monday morning quarterbacks, the shade-tree captains who stand
> on the sidelines throwing stumbling blocks at those who have waged the
> fight,' Mr. Hooks said."
>
> When we talked about "shade-tree" in a thread back in '05, we discussed
> extended applications where it was roughly equivalent to "armchair," as in
> "shade-tree philosopher."
>
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2005-June/050869.html
>
>
> On Fri, Dec 9, 2016 at 12:18 AM, Dave Hause <dwhause at cablemo.net> wrote:
>
> > It may be that there's no "shade-tree quarterback," on the model of
> > "shade-tree mechanic" because the "shade-tree mechanic" actually DOES
> > mechanic work (and may even get paid for it on occasion) while the "arm
> > chair whatevers" are actually only critics who neither practice nor are
> > paid for the craft they criticize
> > Dave Hause
> > -----Original Message----- From: Ben Zimmer
> > Sent: Thursday, December 8, 2016 12:23 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: "[Blank] Quarterback" - Second-guessing
> >
> > Interesting convergence of idioms here... "drugstore" from "drugstore
> > cowboy," "armchair" from "armchair critic/strategist/general" (all of
> these
> > "armchair" roles, including QB, are now in OED3 online). But it looks
> like
> > there's no such thing as a "shade-tree quarterback," on the model of
> > "shade-tree mechanic."
> >
> > On Wed, Dec 7, 2016 at 3:56 PM, Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> >
> >> I heard the expression "armchair quarterback" the other day, prompting
> me
> >> to take a second look.  There are at least four "[blank] quarterback"
> >> idioms that antedate "Monday morning quarterback," and more than a dozen
> >> that followed it.
> >>
> >>
> >> The earliest ones are:
> >>
> >>
> >> "Grandstand quarterback," "As Joe Williams Sees It," Pittsburgh Press,
> >> October 17, 1927, page 31.
> >>
> >>
> >> "Cigar store quarterback" (one example), Rochester Democrat and
> Chronicle,
> >> October 22, 1927, page 9.
> >>
> >>
> >> "Sunday morning quarterback," Knute Rockne's syndicated column, Des
> Moines
> >> Register, September 28, 1928, page 12.
> >>
> >>
> >> "Drugstore quarterback" (perhaps influenced by the earlier "drugstore
> >> cowboy"), Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, November 22, 1931, page 13.
> >>
> >>
> >> "Sunday morning quarterback" appeared in print only sporadically before
> >> "Monday morning quarterback."   "Monday morning quarterback" immediately
> >> became the most common one after it first appeared in print, although
> >> "Sunday morning" appeared more frequently thereafter as well.
> "Grandstand
> >> quarterback" was more common than "Sunday morning quarterback" before
> and
> >> after "Monday morning quarterback."
> >>
> >>
> >> Later variants include: armchair, bleacher, radio, parlor, easy chair,
> >> soda fountain, day-after, living room, television (or TV), beer parlor
> and
> >> beer garden quarterbacks, although a few of them only show up one or a
> few
> >> times.  "Armchair", "bleacher," "drugstore" and "television" return a
> >> significant number of hits over a long period of time.
> >>
> >>
> >> My post: http://esnpc.blogspot.com/2016
> >> /12/grandstands-armchairs-and-drugstores.html
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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