[Ads-l] help with a literary (?) allusion

[Baker, John]

The origin of Punch’s advice, as it is known, is discussed both in Mr. Punch’s Book of Love, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/42400/42400-h/42400-h.htm, and in the Word Histories page at https://wordhistories.net/2019/11/05/punchs-advice-dont/.  The Punch in question is indeed the humor magazine.


John Baker


On Dec 6, 2020, at 12:48 AM, Bill Mullins <amcombill at hotmail.com> wrote:


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I've seen in print a couple of times, when the writer wants to tell someone "Don't!", variants of "As Punch told the young man about to marry, Don't!"

I recently saw it suggested that "Punch" was the puppet from Punch & Judy. Now there are likely hundreds of Punch & Judy scripts, but they are fairly well-defined characters, and this doesn't seem consistent with Punch's character as I understand it.

I think of the phrasing as being turn of the century (19th/20th), and I've always assumed that "Punch" was the humor magazine of the era.

Anyone have any thoughts? Is there another "Punch" who could have said this, that I'm missing?


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