[Ads-l] "You don't have to be crazy, but it (sure ) helps."

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Interesting topic, JL. Here are some citations from the 1920s. The
first is from columnist Lew Cody in Cincinnati. The subject was golf.

 [ref] 1922 July 31, The Cincinnati Post, Around The Town With Lew
Cody, Quote Page 2, Column 3, Cincinnati, Ohio. (Newspapers_com)
[/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
Lew Foster, manager of the Grand, gave me a list of engagements upon
my arrival. One was to play golf.
"A man must be crazy to play golf," said he.
"You don't have to be crazy, but it helps a lot," says I.
(I refer you to Page 4000 Mullins' Almanac.)
[End excerpt]

In June 1925 the expression appeared within a crossword clue in the
humor magazine “Judge”. The subject was music, and the suggested
handwritten answer to the clue was "SOLO".

[ref] 1925 June 20, The Judge, Key to Judge's Crossword Puzzle No 34,
Clue to Horizontal Number 64, Quote Page 32, Judge Publishing Company,
New York. (Google Books Full View) link [/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
You don't have to be crazy to play this on a saxophone, but it helps a lot.
[End excerpt]

In November 1925 a reviewer in “The New York Times” stated that the
phrase appeared within a caption displayed during a new photoplay
called "Classified". The subject is a popular dance.

[ref] 1925 November 2, The New York Times, The Screen by Morduant
Hall, Quote Page 20, Column 2, New York. (ProQuest) [/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
One of the captions, written by Ralph Spence, reads: "You don’t have
to be crazy to dance the Charleston, but it helps."
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Wed, Jun 22, 2022 at 7:26 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I first heard this in the early '60s.
>
> 1936 _Springfield [Mass.] Republican _(May 28) 9: People have asked me many
> times what makes a man become a racing driver....I think the best answer is
> the crack made by one of the boys - "You don't have to be crazy, but it
> helps!"
>
> 1947 John B. George _Shots Fired in Anger_  (Plantersville, S.C.: Small
> Arms Technical)  7: I thought of the cliche concerning a rifle shooter's
> mental qualifications - "You don't have to be crazy, but it sure helps!"
>
> JL
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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