[Ads-l] Quote My life depended on 150, 000 pieces of equipment =?UTF-8?Q?=E2=80=93_?=each bought from the lowest bidder

ADSGarson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Tue Jun 27 19:21:08 UTC 2017


Back on March 24, 2017 JL posted about an expression he had heard:
"Always remember: your equipment was made by the lowest bidder".

Now, I've posted a QI article about a related expression (given in the
subject line):
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/06/27/lowest-bidder/

Earlier citations and other interesting information would be welcome.

The acknowledgement mentions the saying referenced by JL and research
by Barry Popik.

[Begin excerpt]
Great thanks to Austin Kleon and Karin L. Kross whose inquiry and
comment led QI to formulate this question and perform this
exploration. Kleon pointed to a quotation attributed to John Glenn. In
addition, quotation expert Nigel Rees relayed a request in the July
2017 issue of his periodical "The 'Quote...Unquote' Newsletter". David
Critchlow wanted a trace of the statement: "every item of work and
materials in his space shuttle was the result of the cheapest offer".
Special thanks to Barry Popik for his pioneering research on this
topic. He found citations beginning on July 7, 1966. Also, thanks to
Jonathan Lighter who asked about a related military expression:
"Always remember: your equipment was made by the lowest bidder".
[End excerpt]

Here is a link to Barry's webpage on this topic:

http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/never_forget_that_your_weapon_was_made_by_the_lowest_bidder_military_saying

Garson

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