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

[Jonathan Lighter]

More great work, G.

Looks like the phrase was well established by about 1930.

JL

On Thu, Jun 23, 2022 at 12:51 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <
adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:

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


-- 
"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