[Ads-l] Don't Tell a Lie About Me (&c.

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

George Thompson wrote:
> Thanks, Garson.
> Did some of this get posted to ADS-L?  I had a vague memory of it being attributed
> to a politician, but then supposed that the politician was Adlai.  The guy who looks
> stuff up in books should have checked the ADS archives, at least.

I mentioned the QI article on the topic back on Jun 10, 2018 (below is
a link), but I do not know if the topic was discussed on some other
thread.
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2018-June/151894.html

Garson

> On Wed, Oct 31, 2018 at 5:12 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> George Thompson wrote:
>> > I see that YBQ credits Adlai Stevenson in 1951 for the idea "Don't tell a
>> > lie about me, and I won't tell the truth about you", in his case, a
>> > challenge addressed to the Republicans.
>> >
>> > My invaluable local radio station, WHRW, 950 -- don't try to get it if you
>> > live more than 40 miles from Poughkeepsie -- has just played a record made
>> > by the Ink Spots in 1943: Don't Tell a Lie About Me, Dear (And I Won't Tell
>> > the Truth About You)
>> >
>> > https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.youtube.com_watch-3Fv-3DB6K6wNoORoc&d=DwIBaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bSXZAAkiZUWoSBRkxN0oTCvSBrzy0FJhA07Bkk14LXU&m=rRLdAiRRxp7RHajaev7bI42ddwc5aeTxvzolwjaERws&s=j_vqtS1z6VRZr9SEC_8GWUM9tW1ykx4Q5CBtRQdoktc&e=
>>
>> Thanks, GAT. The family of sayings containing the lyric from the Ink
>> Spots and the remark attributed to Adlai Stevenson has been explored
>> in a Quote Investigator article.
>>
>> If You Stop Telling Lies About Us We Will Stop Telling the Truth About You
>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__quoteinvestigator.com_2018_06_09_stop-2Dlies_&d=DwIBaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bSXZAAkiZUWoSBRkxN0oTCvSBrzy0FJhA07Bkk14LXU&m=rRLdAiRRxp7RHajaev7bI42ddwc5aeTxvzolwjaERws&s=oosdQ5QySSUdvpUuosp-S7hW_i2EkGnuj83wX-aqvEY&e=
>>
>> Previous researchers have examined this topic, e.g., Suzy Platt,
>> Ralph Keyes, Nigel Rees, Fred Shapiro, and Barry Popik.
>>
>> The QI article contains new earlier citations including the first
>> direct nineteenth century evidence showing Chauncey Depew used the
>> saying.
>>
>> No doubt the results can be further improved.
>> Garson
>
>
>
>
> --
> George A. Thompson
> The Guy Who Still Looks Stuff Up in Books.
> Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998.
>
> But when aroused at the Trump of Doom / Ye shall start, bold kings, from your lowly tomb. . .
> L. H. Sigourney, "Burial of Mazeen", Poems.  Boston, 1827, p. 112
>
> The Trump of Doom -- also known as The Dunghill Toadstool.  (Here's a picture of his great-grandfather.)
> http://www.parliament.uk/worksofart/artwork/james-gillray/an-excrescence---a-fungus-alias-a-toadstool-upon-a-dunghill/3851
>

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