[Ads-l] Quote: Politicians, like diapers, should be changed regularly (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Peter Reitan]

Wikipedia says A Lady Takes a Chance was released on September 15 1943.

A search for "Thesaurus of Epigrams" on Newspapers.com suggests it was released on November 29 1943.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31567204/hartford_courant/

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________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2019 1:19:12 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Quote: Politicians, like diapers, should be changed regularly (UNCLASSIFIED)

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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Quote: Politicians, like diapers, should be changed regularly
              (UNCLASSIFIED)
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Thanks for your response. Bill. Barry states that an instance of the
socks/women saying occurred in the 1943 John Wayne film "A Lady Takes
a Chance". (I have not seen the movie.) That is probably the source of
the citation you present.

[Begin excerpt from Barry Popik's entry]
=E2=80=9CSocks=E2=80=9D is an early form of the saying and is sometimes use=
d instead
of =E2=80=9Cdiapers.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CWomen is like socks...you gotta chan=
ge =E2=80=98em regular=E2=80=9D
from the movie A Lady Takes a Chance (1943) perhaps influenced this
version.
[End excerpt]

I listed the 1943 book "Thesaurus of Epigrams" by Edmund Fuller. The
chronology is uncertain (to me) because the precise publication date
of the book is not listed. It is possible that Fuller grabbed the
saying from the film. Alternatively, the saying was already in
circulation. Books and films both have long gestations.

Garson

On Tue, May 14, 2019 at 3:08 PM MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY
CCDC AVMC (USA) <0000099bab68be9a-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu>
wrote:
>
> CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED
>
>
> _Columbus [OH] Dispatch_ 23 Oct 1943 p 6 col 2
>
> "[John] Wayne plays a cowboy whose theory is that women, like socks, shou=
ld be changed often."
>
> > ----
> >
> > Historian Ron Chernow addressed the White House Correspondents Associat=
ion dinner back on Saturday April 29, 2019, and he referred to
> > the saying in the subject line.
> >
> > Barry Popik and I have entries about this quip on our websites (and I s=
tarted a mailing-list thread on the topic back in 2018). The words are
> > often incorrectly ascribed to Mark Twain.
> >
> > Now the website entries have been updated with newly discovered illumin=
ating citations.
> >
> > Politicians Are Like Diapers. They Should Be Changed Regularly https://=
quoteinvestigator.com/2018/10/17/diaper/
> >
> > =E2=80=9CPoliticians and diapers should both be changed regularly, and =
for the same reason=E2=80=9D
> > http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/politicians_and=
_diapers_should_both_be_changed_regularly_and_for_the_sa
> > me_r
> >
> > An interesting precursor in 1952 used "socks" instead of "diapers".
> >
> > [ref]1952 September 10, Boston Traveler, (Letter to the editor from Joh=
n Q. of Roslindale), Letter title: No Re-Elections, Quote Page 26,
> > Column 5, Boston, Massachusetts. (GenealogyBank) [/ref]
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > If a politician needs to hold office but six years to get a pension let=
's all go to the polls and see that he doesn=E2=80=99t hold office that lon=
g. Office
> > holders, like socks, should be changed often and for very much the same=
 reason.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Garson
> >
> > On Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 8:38 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> =
wrote:
> CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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