[Ads-l] "so crazy it might just work"

[Ben Zimmer]

On Thu, Mar 26, 2020 at 4:49 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

> How far back does "crazy like a fox" go?  Seems at least distantly
> related.
>

OED2 has "crazy as a fox" from 1935 and "crazy like a fox" from 1944, but
that's easy to antedate.

---
Chicago Inter Ocean, Dec. 1, 1895, p. 10, col. 5
"Jack, you handicap him to an ounce," Bud remarked to the learned sport.
"Yet he must be crazy to take the chances he does with Captain T."
"Humph!" grunted De Boots, "crazy like a fox, he is."
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47420119/crazy-like-a-fox/
---

Not sure if this early "crazy as a fox" has the same meaning.

---
Detroit Free Press, Mar. 3, 1876, p. 3, col. 2
"Woman, are you mad?" asked the man.
"If she hain't done gone crazy as a fox, den I never seed a 'possum!" put
in the barber.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47419631/crazy-as-a-fox/
---


> On Thu, Mar 26, 2020 at 4:45 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > It must be significant that a direct connection between craziness and a
> > real chance of success seems to not to have been a "meme" until the 1930s
> > or later.
> >
> > On Thu, Mar 26, 2020 at 4:33 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > There are many variations on the theme, e.g. "It's just crazy enough to
> > > work."
> > >
> > > ---
> > > Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), Dec. 20, 1944, p. 10
> > > "I have heard some people say the whole business is crazy, and it may
> > be,"
> > > Harrod said. "But maybe it's just crazy enough to work out."
> > >
> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47400034/just-crazy-enough-to-work-out/
> > > ---
> > > Brockway (PA) Record, Nov. 15, 1956, p. 6
> > > Old Greg had explained the plan to us the night before, and by George
> it
> > > was just crazy enough to work.
> > > https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47402250/just-crazy-enough-to-work/
> > > ---
> > > Miami Herald, Jan. 20, 1958, p. 10C
> > > "It's one of my crazy ideas," he [sc. John Steinbeck] said. "But it
> might
> > > be crazy enough to work."
> > >
> >
> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47402306/it-might-be-crazy-enough-to-work/
> > > ---
> > >
> > >
> > > On Thu, Mar 26, 2020 at 3:04 PM Jonathan Lighter <
> wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> > >
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > Has anyone not heard this optimistic phrase?
> > > >
> > > > Earliest?
> > > >
> > > > 1967 Erma Bombeck in _Plain Dealer_ (Cleveland) (March 30) 19: It's
> so
> > > > crazy, it might just work.
>

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