[Ads-l] Quip: Whoever named it necking was a poor judge of anatomy

ADSGarson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Mon Aug 8 21:14:13 UTC 2022


Great work, Pete. Thanks for sharing your discoveries. In the near
future I will update the QI article and acknowledge your help.
Following your lead I looked in newspapers.com to find citations with
solid dates. Here is an instance in 1943.

[ref] 1943 June 16, The News and Observer, Paragraphs by Robert
Quillen, Quote Page 4, Column 6, Raleigh, North Carolina.
(Newspapers_com) [/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
Whoever named it necking was strangely ignorant of anatomy.
[End excerpt]

Here are some other precursors.

[ref] 1929 November 21, The Tilden Citizen, Knot-Holes (Advertisement
for Tilden Lumber Company), Quote Page 8, Column 4, Tilden, Nebraska.
(Newspapers_com) [/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
Otto says the fellow that named it necking was way above him.
[End excerpt]

[ref] 1932 September 22, Greenville Daily Advocate, Pollyanna, Quote
Page 4, Column 4, Greenville, Ohio. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
The fellow who named it necking was a poor judge of distance.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sat, Aug 6, 2022 at 2:41 PM Pete Morris <mr_peter_morris at outlook.com> wrote:
>
> And some more
>
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Petroleum_Management/ljRAAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22named+it+necking%22+anatomy&dq=%22named+it+necking%22+anatomy&printsec=frontcover
>
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Typo_Graphic/APIoAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22named+it+necking%22+anatomy&dq=%22named+it+necking%22+anatomy&printsec=frontcover
>
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/World_Oil/5IPmAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22named+it+necking%22+anatomy&dq=%22named+it+necking%22+anatomy&printsec=frontcover
>
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Oil_Weekly/WWVAAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22named+it+necking%22+anatomy&dq=%22named+it+necking%22+anatomy&printsec=frontcover
>
>
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Poultry_Farmer/mEhPAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22named+it+necking%22+anatomy&dq=%22named+it+necking%22+anatomy&printsec=frontcover
>
> It seems that several of the hits are journals relating to
> oil/petroleum.  I wonder why.
>
> ------ Original Message ------
> From "ADSGarson O'Toole" <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Date 06/08/2022 16:12:41
> Subject Re: Quip: Whoever named it necking was a poor judge of anatomy
>
> >Bill Mullins wrote:
> >>Similarly inspired:
> >>Asbury Park [NJ] Evening Press 07 June 1935: p. 8.
> >>
> >>"The burglar who stuck his revolver in the pit of his victim's stomach and
> >>told him to hold up his hands or he would blow out his brains is a poor
> >>student of anatomy. – GRAND ISLAND (Neb.) INDEPENDENT."
> >
> >Thanks for the excellent citation you posted on July 29, Bill. You
> >found a precursor joke in 1935. Following your lead, I located an
> >earlier instance in 1931.
> >
> >[ref] 1931 May 2, The Grand Island Daily Independent, Today’s
> >Quotation, Quote Page 6, Column 1, Grand Island, Nebraska.
> >(Newspapers_com) [/ref]
> >
> >[Begin excerpt]
> >The highwayman who stuck a revolver in the pit of a man’s stomach and
> >said: “Hold up your hands or I’ll blow out your brains,” was a poor
> >student of anatomy.
> >[End excerpt]
> >
> >The Quote Investigator article has now been updated and your help has
> >been acknowledged. Changes should be visible within 48 hours.
> >https://quoteinvestigator.com/2022/07/28/necking/
> >
> >Garson
> >
> >------------------------------------------------------------
> >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>
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