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

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

(Material has been snipped)

Bill Mullins gave a citation:
> >> _Columbus [OH] Dispatch_ 23 Oct 1943 p 6 col 2
> >>
> >> "[John] Wayne plays a cowboy whose theory is that women, like socks, should be changed often.”

Laurence Horn wrote:
> “…and for the same reason”?
>
> That’s what makes the politicians version more memorable—besides losing the whiff of misogyny.

I have not seen "for the same reason" appended to the women/socks
version of the joke. (I think that is your point).

The phrase "for very much the same reason" is appended to the
politicians/socks version of the joke in 1952. ("Office holders, like
socks, should be changed often and for very much the same reason.")

The phrase "for the same reason" is appended to the diapers/socks
version of the joke in 1966.

The laughter response can be triggered when the brain is tricked into
unexpectedly entertaining a taboo thought according to one theory of
humor. The phrase "for the same reason" in the politicians/diapers
quip causes the listener to confront the excrement taboo juxtaposed
with politicians.

The phrase "very much the same reason" in the politicians/socks joke
leads to an olfactory taboo which is considerably weaker. That might
make it less memorable.

Garson

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