[Ads-l] "Nothing Tastes as Good" Quote

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Barry Popik has the earliest citation dated February 01, 1984. Barry
shows one excerpt, but the phrase appears twice in the article. Below
are some details (double check for errors).

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

Date: February 01, 1984
Newspaper: The Marietta Daily Journal
Newspaper Location: Marietta, Georgia
Article: Cobb Weight Watchers Hope To See Less Of Each Other
Author: Faith Hills (Marietta Daily Journal Food Editor)
Quote Page 4C, Column 2 and 5
Database: GenealogyBank

[Begin excerpt]
'It’s not the food that made you fat; it’s the habits,' says Diane
Thomas (R), a leader of Weight Watchers classes at New London Square
and Merchants Walk shopping centers. 'Nothing tastes as good as thin
feels.'
[End excerpt]

[Begin excerpt]
The attractive teacher then passed out gum to each participant and
counseled, "Save this until you're in the kitchen fixing dinner
tomorrow. Pop this in your mouth to keep from sampling."
"Nothing tastes as good as thin feels," Diane observed.
[End excerpt]

A year earlier a precursor slogan appeared: "Nothing tastes as good as
abstinence feels". I can see a few matches in 1983 for this
expression, but the goal-oriented keyword "thin" was more compelling
and memorable.

Date: January 2, 1983
Newspaper Location: Cocoa, Florida
Newspaper: Florida Today
Article: Thin is still very in (continuation of article)
Quote Page 6E

[Begin excerpt]
One dieter who lost more than 100 pounds said her weight loss turned
her life around,
After she shed the unwanted pounds, she started taking better care of
herself and her family.
Food no longer ruled her life, and eating was no longer her greatest joy.
"I feel in control of my life now. Nothing tastes as good as
abstinence feels," she said.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sat, May 6, 2017 at 11:02 AM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:
> Charles Doyle, in private correspondence, has indicated to me that the saying "Nothing tastes as good as (being) skinny (thin) feels (looks)" dates back to the early 1990s.  Can Charlie or anyone else point me to the earliest findable occurrences of this quotation?
>
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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