[Ads-l] Bogus Andrew Johnson quote?

[Jonathan Lighter]

A newspaper check reveals relatively recent instances of other cities
characterized in similar terms but not by Andrew Johnson.

Possibly relevant unconsciously is Rod Serling's weekly claim (1960-61
season) that the Twilight Zone is "a wondrous land whose borders are that
[sic] of imagination."

JL

On Sat, May 6, 2017 at 12:32 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole <
adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:

> Barry Popik found some great citations back to 1976 and shared his
> data on his website here:
>
> http://barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/
> washington_dc_is_12_square_miles/
>
> Following Barry's lead I've found a snippet match in Google Books that
> seems to be in a 1967 book.
>
> Year: 1967
> Title: The Department of Housing and Urban Development [by] John B.
> Willmann.
> Author: John B. Willmann
> Publisher: New York, Praeger
> Quote Page 117 (GB)
> Database: Google Books Snippet match; HathiTrust shows a match also;
> data may be inaccurate and should be verified with hardcopy
>
> [Begin extracted text]
> "We have a significant, difficult-to-define job to do in
> intergovernmental relations," Beckman has commented. "We try to keep
> our feet on the ground by recalling from time to time (Deputy
> Secretary of HUD) Bob Wood's definition of Washington as ten square
> miles surrounded by reality.
> [End extracted text]
>
> Garson
>
> On Fri, May 5, 2017 at 4:54 PM, Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:
> > Washington DC was originally ten miles squared - or 100 square miles.
> It is smaller now, because corner was lopped off and given to Virginia.
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Geoffrey Nathan <geoffnathan at WAYNE.EDU>
> > Sent: Friday, May 5, 2017 1:14:21 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: Bogus Andrew Johnson quote?
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Geoffrey Nathan <geoffnathan at WAYNE.EDU>
> > Subject:      Re: Bogus Andrew Johnson quote?
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------------
> >
> > Although I can't date this with any precision, I know I heard the phrase
> in=
> >  the nineteen seventies, probably at a libertarian gathering, probably
> in H=
> > awaii. But the number was 24, not 12.=20
> >
> > FWIW
> >
> > Geoff
> >
> >
> >     =20
> >  Geoffrey S. Nathan
> >  WSU Information Privacy Officer
> >  Professor, Linguistics Program
> >  http://blogs.wayne.edu/proftech/
> >  +1 (313) 577-1259
> >  On Half-time: Generally not in office on Monday or Fridays but I do
> read e=
> > mail.
> >  Nobody at Wayne State will EVER ask you for your password. Never send
> it t=
> > o anyone in an email, no matter how authentic the email  looks.
> > =20
> >    =20
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Jonath=
> > an Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Sent: Friday, May 5, 2017 2:20 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Bogus Andrew Johnson quote?
> > =A0  =20
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -------------------=
> > ----
> > Sender:=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 American Dialect Society <
> ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Bogus Andrew Johnson quote?
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> ---------------=
> > ----
> >
> > The New Yorker quotes AJ that Washington, DC, is "twelve square miles
> > bordered by reality."
> >
> > Despite the usual zillion raw Google hits, my Spidey-sense says fat
> chance.
> > And GB reveals nothing before 2008.
> >
> > I doubt that any 19th C. person would have been likely to say that any
> > physical location was "bordered by reality."
> >
> > If Johnson had said it, we should heard about it long before 2008.
> >
> > Its form reminds me, somehow, of a recent, well-known, witticism that I
> > cannot bring to mind.
> >
> > Has Barry or Garson looked into this?
> >
> > JL
> >
> > --=20
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
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-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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