[Ads-l] The peasants are revolting (Comic: The Wizard of Id)

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Mon Jun 5 14:50:45 UTC 2017


Perfect.
> On Jun 5, 2017, at 8:24 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> Thanks for your responses, Wilson and Geoff.
> 
> An instance of the "penniless versus Nicholas (nickel less)" wordplay
> appeared in a 1922 issue of "The Gargoyle", the student humor magazine
> of the University of Michigan. "The Gargoyle" acknowledged "The
> Harvard Lampoon".
> 
> [ref] 1922 January, The Gargoyle, Section: Advertising, Unnumbered
> Page, Published by the students of the University of Michigan, Ann
> Arbor. (HathiTrust Full View) link [/ref]
> 
> https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015071373487?urlappend=%3Bseq=187
> 
> [Begin excerpt]
> Sweet Young Thing—Why, I can't marry you. You're penniless.
> Hopeful Young Man—That's nothing, the Czar of Russia was Nicholas.
> —Harvard Lampoon.
> [End excerpt]
> 
> Here is an instance a few months later acknowledging "Vaudeville News".
> 
> [ref] 1922 March 27, The Muncie Evening Press, Broadcasting Jokes,
> Quote Page 4, Column 6, Muncie, Indiana. (Newspapers_com)[/ref]
> 
> [Begin excerpt]
> Cents Less
> Sweet Young Thing—I can't marry you. You are penniless.
> Young fellow—That's nothing, the czar of Russia was Nicholas.
> —Vaudeville News.
> [End excerpt]
> 
> Garson
> 
> 
> On Mon, Jun 5, 2017 at 12:27 AM, GEOFFREY NUNBERG <nunbergg at gmail.com> wrote:
>> The version I recall hearig from a Russian-American friend many years ago had a closing snapper:
>> 
>> —The peasants are revolting.
>> — I know, they’re nauseating.
>> — But they’re penniless.
>> — So what, I’m Nicholas.
>> 
>> Geoff
>> 
>>> Date:    Sun, 4 Jun 2017 14:31:04 -0400
>>> From:    ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM <mailto:adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>>
>>> Subject: Re: The peasants are revolting (Comic: The Wizard of Id)
>>> 
>>> Back in March, I initiated a thread about a line in the comic "The
>>> Wizard of Id". Now there is an article on the Quote Investigator
>>> website on the topic:
>>> 
>>> “The Peasants Are Revolting” “You Can Say That Again”
>>> http://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/06/03/revolt/ <http://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/06/03/revolt/>
>>> 
>>> [Begin acknowledgment]
>>> Great thanks to Fred Shapiro whose inquiry about famous quotations in
>>> comic strips led QI to formulate this question and perform this
>>> exploration. Special thanks to the mailing list discussants: Randy
>>> Alexander who found the “The Marvelous Land of Oz” citation, Jeff
>>> Prucher who located the Pogo citation, and James A. Landau who found
>>> an instance of the 1955 joke. Thanks to Barry Popik for his research
>>> on this topic. Also, thanks to Arnold Zwicky for his linguistic
>>> analysis and presentation of several examples.
>>> [End acknowledgment]
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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



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