[Ads-l] He is a rascal/scalawag/SOB, but he is our rascal/scalawag/SOB

[Stephen Goranson]

That's an impressive collection. The version I may have heard first was with "dictator," sometimes attributed to cold war times. E.g.:

. . . And Perhaps in Bosnia Too: [FINAL Edition]<https://search.proquest.com/docview/408324241/FCA3D40DBF14462BPQ/7?accountid=10598>
Hiatt, Fred. The Washington Post; Washington, D.C. [Washington, D.C]13 July 1997: C, 7:2.

...We used to blame those temptations on the Cold War ("He's a dictator, but he's our
dictator"); they turn out to stem more from human nature than from the struggle...


SG


________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2021 7:26 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: He is a rascal/scalawag/SOB, but he is our rascal/scalawag/SOB

Way back in 2007 Bonnie Taylor-Blake posted some great information
about the template:

He may be a _____, but he's our _____

I've been asked to explore this topic, and now there is a Quote
Investigator article:

He Is a Great Rascal. Ah! But He Is Our Rascal
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://quoteinvestigator.com/2021/02/24/rascal/__;!!OToaGQ!6_W8F5puVadXya9mdSgIfzhOzy37mvaiMTMzmDZSvTuumrm0iqBcB2unrhoCIRuU$

[Acknowledgment in the body of the article]
QI wishes to acknowledge researchers Bonnie Taylor-Blake and Barry
Popik who identified many valuable examples.
[End acknowledgment]

[Acknowledgement at the end of the article]
Great thanks to Carlos Gómez Abajo and Peter G. Epps whose inquiries
led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Thanks
also to researchers Bonnie Taylor-Blake, Barry Popik, Nigel Rees, and
Fred R. Shapiro for their efforts on this topic.
[End acknowledgment]

Here are some links:

https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2007-August/072976.html__;!!OToaGQ!6_W8F5puVadXya9mdSgIfzhOzy37mvaiMTMzmDZSvTuumrm0iqBcB2unrvIOHhGT$

https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/he_may_be_a_son_of_a_bitch_but_hes_our_son_of_a_bitch__;!!OToaGQ!6_W8F5puVadXya9mdSgIfzhOzy37mvaiMTMzmDZSvTuumrm0iqBcB2unrsoiqaN4$

Garson

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