[Ads-l] There is no gravity, the earth sucks

[Jesse Sheidlower]

Sorry for the slow response here, but I was finally able to look at the original of this. Unfortunately, there is no specific information provided about the origin of most items on the list. Cragg himself served in Korea, and remained interested in military language, but the only comment he makes in the introduction is that "The following list is a composite of many such I've seen and collected over the years." He does comment (also in the introduction) about a small number of items, and some of them have more info in footnotes, but not this one.

Jesse Sheidlower

On Mon, Mar 14, 2022 at 02:52:05PM -0400, ADSGarson O'Toole wrote:
> The quip appears within an article in the journal Maledicta in 1980
> according to a snippet match in Google Books. I cannot see the full
> article. The article might give details about where and when the quip
> was collected.
> 
> Year: 1980
> Journal: Maledicta: The International Journal of Verbal Aggression
> Volume 4
> Start Page 167, Quote Page 171 (GB), End Page 173
> Article Title: A Brief Survey of Some Unofficial Prosigns Used by The
> United States Armed Forces
> Author: Dan Cragg
> Publisher: Maledicta Press
> Database: Google Books snippet; must be verified with scans or paper;
> article title and author name from index at logological.org/maledicta
> 
> [Begin excerpt]
> (45) There is no gravity - the whole world sucks.
> [End excerpt]
> 
> Garson
> 
> On Mon, Mar 14, 2022 at 1:27 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Good work Wilson, Ben, Bill, and Jonathan.
> > Here is an interesting variant phrasing with "myth" and "world" in 1971.
> >
> > [ref] 1971 Copyright, Requiem for a Teacher by Robert Fogg and Bob
> > Clifton, Chapter 3: Raeger, Quote Page 24, Golden Bell Press, Denver,
> > Colorado. (Internet Archive at archive.org) [/ref]
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > If you think you can take it, we have a saying that's pretty popular
> > on days like I had today . . . Ready??
> > gravity is a myth; the whole world sucks.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Here is a variant with "myth" and "Earth" in a 1974 encyclopedia of graffiti.
> >
> > [ref] 1980 (Copyright 1974), Encyclopedia of Graffiti, Collected by
> > Robert Reisner and Lorraine Wechsler, Section: Oragenitalism, Quote
> > Page 259, (Reprint of 1974 edition from Macmillan, New York), Galahad
> > Books, New York. (Verified on paper)[/ref]
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > Gravity is a myth; the Earth sucks.
> > (Men's room, Grumman Aviation, Long Island, New York)
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Barry Popik explored a different variant:
> > If the world didn’t suck, we’d all fall off.
> >
> > Barry found a citation dated November 28, 1999.
> > https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/if_the_world_didnt_suck1
> >
> > Garson
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 14, 2022 at 12:47 PM Jonathan Lighter
> > <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Bill,
> > >  https://archive.org/details/lp_hanging-in-there_hudson-landry/disc1/01.01.+Ajax+Liquor+Store.mp3
> > > <https://archive.org/details/lp_hanging-in-there_hudson-landry/disc1/01.01.+Ajax+Liquor+Store.mp3>
> > > gives
> > > a 1971 date.
> > >
> > > That, to me, is more consistent with "your acapella head" and "earth sucks"
> > > (and possibly "hang in there")  than a date of 1960.
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > > On Mon, Mar 14, 2022 at 11:35 AM Bill Mullins <amcombill at hotmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Without disparaging Wilson's memory, here is a documented cite:
> > > >
> > > > 1960 Hudson & Landry Hanging in There Dore Records LP-324 [liner notes,
> > > > back of the album cover]
> > > >
> > > > Landry also writes tone poems for your acapella head: YOU WERE NEVER
> > > > LOVELIER, AND I THINK IT'S A SHAME; THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS GRAVITY --
> > > > THE EARTH SUCKS; IV'E FALLEN INTO SOMETHING AND I HOPE IT'S LOVE; THE ONLY
> > > > THING I HATE WORSE THAN BIGOTRY IS MINORITY GROUPS; and THE BOTTOM'S
> > > > DROPPED OUT OF EVERYTHING BUT YOU.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > Re:  Undocumentable Army graffito
> > > > >
> > > > > Seen in November, 1959, written in pencil on the outside wall of one of
> > > > the
> > > > > mess halls at the now-defunct Fort Devens, Massachusetts:
> > > > > "There is no gravity / The earth sucks."
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > 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
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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