[Ads-l] It isn't about the money

Sun Aug 30 04:19:52 UTC 2020

Back on July 12, 2020 Jonathan Lighter initiated a thread about the
saying in the subject line. Fred Shapiro, and I participated in the
thread.
Now the  Quote Investigator website has an article on the topic:

When They Say It’s Not About Money, It’s About Money
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2020/08/29/about-money/

I posted on the thread a 1916 "Abe Martin" citation which I thought
was new. Later I found that the 1990 reference  "A Dictionary of
Business Quotations" compiled by Simon James and Robert Parker had an
entry for the saying which pointed to "New Sayings by Abe Martin"
which was published in 1916. Next, I found that Barry Popik had
created a webpage on the topic in 2010, and he listed a 1916 citation.

https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/when_a_fellow_says_it_aint_the_money_but_the_principle_of_the_thing_its_the/

[Begin acknowledgment in QI article]
Thanks to quotation researcher Barry Popik who located the Hubbard citation.
[End acknowledgment]

[Begin acknowledgment in QI article]
Great thanks to Jonathan Lighter whose inquiry led QI to formulate
this question and perform this exploration. Thanks to researcher Barry
Popik who located the 1916 citation and researcher Fred R. Shapiro who
pointed to a pertinent entry in “The Yale Book of Quotations”
crediting Kin Hubbard.
[End acknowledgment]

Garson

On Mon, Jul 13, 2020 at 9:17 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> To quote Mr. Burns: EXXcellent!
>
> JL
>
> On Sun, Jul 12, 2020 at 5:21 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Excellent topic and citations, JL. Great citation, Fred. Following
> > this lead I found that Kin Hubbard published the quip in his
> > syndicated column "Abe Martin" in 1916.
> >
> > Date: November 24, 1916
> > Newspaper: Franklin Evening News
> > Newspaper Location: Franklin, Pennsylvania
> > Article: Abe Martin
> > Syndicate: National Newspaper Service
> > Quote Page 4, Column 4
> > Database: Newspapers.com
> >
> > https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55235678/haintthmoney/
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > When a feller says: "It hain't th' money, but th' principle o' th'
> > thing," it's th' money.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > In 1999 Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas senator, attributed the saying
> > to H.L. Mencken, but I have not yet found any support for that
> > attribution.
> >
> > [ref] Website: CNN, Article title: Transcript: Former Sen. Dale
> > Bumpers, Date on website: January 21, 1999, Website description: World
> > news website for cable television channel. (Accessed cnn.com on July
> > 12, 2020) link [/ref]
> >
> > https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/01/21/transcripts/bumpers.html
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > It was a breach of his family trust It is a sex scandal. H.L. Mencken
> > said one time, "When you hear somebody say, 'This is not about money,'
> > it's about money."
> > (LAUGHTER)
> > And when you hear somebody say, "This is not about sex," it's about sex.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Garson O'Toole
> > QuoteInvestigator.com
> >
> > On Sun, Jul 12, 2020 at 1:19 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > The Yale Book of Quotations has the following similar quotation:
> > >
> > > When a fellow says, "It hain't the money, but th' principle of the
> > thing," it's th' money.
> > > Frank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard, Hoss Sense and Nonsense (1926)
> > >
> > > Fred Shapiro
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ________________________________
> > > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> > Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Sent: Saturday, July 11, 2020 4:40 PM
> > > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Subject: It isn't about the money
> > >
> > > At some point last year, I jotted this down from Deadline: White House
> > > (MSNBC):
> > >
> > > "There's an old Hollywood adage: 'When they say it's not about the money,
> > > it's about the money.'"
> > >
> > > 1996 San Francisco Examiner (Feb. 25) 28: "But to borrow the oft-repeated
> > > remark of New York Giants executive George Young, "When they say it isn't
> > > about money, it's always about money."
> > >
> > > 1999 Indiana [Pa.] Gazette (Feb. 19) 13: With labor contract issues
> > > constantly in the news, Willie, our ex-shoeshine boy, says the old line
> > is
> > > still true: "When someone tells you it isn't about money...it's about
> > > money."
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > > --
> > > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > truth."
> > >
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> >
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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