[Ads-l] Earliest Use of "Cook the Books"

[Andy Bach]

> it is clearly discussing the different meanings of the English word, "to
cook," and not discussing a separate German
> idiom or even a German-language equivalent of the idiom.

Right, that was my question, sorry. Was "die Buecher falsch fuehren" a
German idiom akin "to cook the books" or do they use some other phrase for
accounting hanky-panky?


On Mon, Feb 4, 2019 at 12:55 PM Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Fuehren also means "to manage" or "to maintain," which is consistent
> with the English meaning.  And in the context of the German reference
> which I did not share, it is clearly discussing the different meanings
> of the English word, "to cook," and not discussing a separate German
> idiom or even a German-language equivalent of the idiom.
>
> ------ Original Message ------
> From: "Andy Bach" <afbach at gmail.com>
> To: ADS-L at listserv.uga.edu
> Sent: 2/4/2019 10:39:48 AM
> Subject: Re: Earliest Use of "Cook the Books"
>
> >---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> >Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >Poster:       Andy Bach <afbach at GMAIL.COM>
> >Subject:      Re: Earliest Use of "Cook the Books"
>
> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >>  ". . . to cook the books, d. i. die Buecher falsch fuehren . . . ."
> >
> >Interesting, perhaps, that Google translate lists "to lead" as the first
> >def of "fuehren"
> >
> https://translate.google.com/#view=home&op=translate&sl=auto&tl=en&text=fuehren
> >
> >so "to mislead the books". None of the synonyms offered are "to cook" nor
> >have the sort of "get your fingers involved in the making of" that cooking
> >implies (to me). So, a different idiom in German?  There is "to have a
> >record of"
> >
> >On Sun, Feb 3, 2019 at 11:01 PM Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> >>  Not knowing how far back you've found it already, I don't know whether
> >>  these are helpful.
> >>
> >>  Phrases.org.uk has an example of the word, "to cook," in the sense of
> >>  "present in a surreptitiously altered form," from 1636.
> >>
> >>  https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/cook-the-books.html
> >>
> >>  In a quick search, I found "cook the books" in the 1860s and "cook the
> >>  accounts" in the 1840s.
> >>
> >>  The earliest "cook the books" I saw is from the Saturday Review
> (London),
> >>  July 13, 1861, page 39 (HathiTrust).
> >>
> https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112078712939;view=1up;seq=57
> >>
> >>  "It is no more than fair for a Dissenting grocer to say that the
> parson of
> >>  the parish is not a safe savings bank manager, because he may be
> tempted by
> >>  his zeal for religion to cook the books of all the Wesleyan depositors
> in
> >>  the district."
> >>
> >>  The expression was well-established enough in 1865 that it appeared in
> a
> >>  German-language linguistics book, Dr. Max Mueller's Bau-wau-Theorie
> und der
> >>  Ursprung der Sprache, Leipzig, Verlag von Bernhard Schlicke, 1865, page
> >>  148. Hathitrust.
> >>  https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hx5925;view=1up;seq=160
> >>
> >>  ". . . to cook the books, d. i. die Buecher falsch fuehren . . . ."
> >>
> >>
> >>  The earliest "cook the accounts" I found is from 1849.
> >>  Hampshire Telegraph and Naval Chronicle (Portsmouth, England), June 16,
> >>  1849, page 2. (Newspapers.com)
> >>
> >>
> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28010089/hampshire_telegraph_and_naval_chronicle/
> >>
> >>
> >>  "The traders and professional men won't pay the tax.  They juggle with
> >>  their consciences; cook their accounts; falsify their returns, and
> leave
> >>  the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the lurch."
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>  ------ Original Message ------
> >>  From: "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
> >>  To: ADS-L at listserv.uga.edu
> >>  Sent: 2/3/2019 2:48:14 PM
> >>  Subject: Earliest Use of "Cook the Books"
> >>
> >>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >>  -----------------------
> >>  Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >>  Poster: "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> >>  Subject: Earliest Use of "Cook the Books"
> >>
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >>  I am trying to push back the use of the phrase "cook the books" (to
> >>  falsify=
> >>  accounting records in order to conceal actual financial activities or
> cond=
> >>  ition of a business) as far as I can. Any suggestions of early
> citations w=
> >>  ould be welcome.
> >>
> >>  Fred Shapiro
> >>
> >>  ------------------------------------------------------------
> >>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >>  ------------------------------------------------------------
> >>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >
> >
> >--
> >
> >a
> >
> >Andy Bach,
> >afbach at gmail.com
> >608 658-1890 cell
> >608 261-5738 wk
> >
> >------------------------------------------------------------
> >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 

a

Andy Bach,
afbach at gmail.com
608 658-1890 cell
608 261-5738 wk

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