[Ads-l] A good walk spoiled

[Shapiro, Fred]

Very nice discoveries, Pete !  Of course, it probably still was not a Twainism, but your citations make the chronology possible.

Fred Shapiro


________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Pete Morris <mr_peter_morris at OUTLOOK.COM>
Sent: Sunday, July 24, 2022 2:12 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: A good walk spoiled

"Golf  ...  a good walk spoiled" - not Mark Twain.

In the podcast linked above, Fred says that the quote is not known
before 1913.  I've found a few precursors.

Caveats about google dating apply.

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possibly 1901.  attributed to a "well-known jockey"

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The Boss of Little Arcady,
by Harry Leon Wilson   1905

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Again: "This new game of golf that the summer folks play seems to have
too much walking for a good game and just enough game to spoil a good
walk." Golf in the Little Country!

I'm going to guess that this is the source that popularized the phrase,
if not invented it.

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possibly 1908.
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The Will of Allah by Kathlyn Rhodes

Personally I utterly deny the fascination of golf as a game ; to me it
always seems like a good walk spoilt . I simply hate having to pull up
every hundred yards and look about for a stupid little ball , and hit it
into an equally ...

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possibly 1906.  The "well-known jockey" again.
https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2Fbooks%2Fedition%2FThe_Secrets_of_Lawn_Tennis%2FQJcCAAAAYAAJ%3Fhl%3Den%26gbpv%3D1%26bsq%3Dgood%2Bwalk%26dq%3Dgood%2Bwalk%26printsec%3Dfrontcover&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C826e30044ad247dc82af08da6da00fd2%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637942831531124972%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=lFFI4I7dybstj64PRWf2DqfZghjBPo51u7OWFBob9p4%3D&reserved=0

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possibly 1911
https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2Fbooks%2Fedition%2FFry_s_Magazine%2F59o9AQAAMAAJ%3Fhl%3Den%26gbpv%3D1%26bsq%3Dgolf%2B%2522a%2Bgood%2Bwalk%2522%26dq%3Dgolf%2B%2522a%2Bgood%2Bwalk%2522%26printsec%3Dfrontcover&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C826e30044ad247dc82af08da6da00fd2%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637942831531124972%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=1S6ITHqtUZeMaSo25tAF599koaca6YQCjZ%2FjZFBB7iU%3D&reserved=0

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possibly 1912

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=========================

one for Quote Investigator, perhaps?


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