[Ads-l] How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was?...

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Back in April 2021 Stephen Goranson inquired about the statement in
the subject line.
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2021-April/159672.html

Now the Quote Investigator website has an entry on the topic.
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2021/08/24/how-old/

[Begin excerpt]
Great thanks to Stephen Goranson who inquired about this quotation and
pointed to two 1978 citations. This led QI to formulate this question
and perform this exploration.
[End excerpt]

Feedback welcome
Garson O'Toole

On Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 3:29 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> In 1927 "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle" reported on a sermon delivered by
> Reverend Clarence H. Wilson at the Flatbush Congregational Church:
>
> [ref] 1927 October 24, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Too Much Checking Up
> Of One's Life Is Bad, View of Dr. Wilson, Quote Page 13, Column 3,
> Brooklyn, New York. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> We make ourselves old by keeping tally of the years. How old would you
> be if you didn't know how old you are? Properly, a man is as old as he
> feels.
> [End excerpt]
>
> To support the Satchel Paige attribution "The Yale Book of Quotations"
> and other references point to Garson Kanin's 1978 book "It Takes a
> Long Time to Become Young". The same work that Stephen identified.
>
> An Associated Press article in 1977 stated that actress Ruth Gordon
> attributed the expression to Satchel Paige when she testified before
> the House Select Committee on Aging. (Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin
> were married from 1942 to 1985 when Gordon died.)
>
> [ref] 1977 June 7, The Akron Beacon Journal, Toughie by Bert Berliner
> (Associated Press), Quote Page D13, Column 5, Akron, Ohio.
> (Newspapers_com) [/ref]
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> "As the great baseball player Satchel Paige once said, 'How old would
> you be if you didn't know how old you were?'"
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 8:51 AM Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:
> >
> > ...said Satchel Paige (1906-1982)?
> > GB gives two 1978 hits: Garson Kanin, It Takes a Long Time to Become Young, p. 47; Ron A. Fletcher, Every Body is Beautiful, p. 109.
> >
> > SG
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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