[Ads-l] Valid First Use of "Shit Happens" ?

Fri Oct 7 06:50:16 UTC 2022

The 1969 date for "The Bible 2.0" by Nathan Smithe is inaccurate.
The copy in Google Books contains the statement "This is way funnier
than Famuly Guy". It also refers to "Rosie O'Donnul", and God watches
a television show called "South  Purk".

On Thu, Oct 6, 2022 at 8:26 PM Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:
>
> As I look at the book again with Jon’s comments in mind, I agree:  Internal evidence strongly suggests that it was written later, notwithstanding the date used by Amazon and other booksellers.
>
>
> John Baker
>
>
>
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> On Behalf Of Baker, John
> Sent: Thursday, October 6, 2022 8:21 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Valid First Use of "Shit Happens" ?
>
> Dan is referring to The Bible 2.0, by Nathan Smithe, not the Stephen King book. While The Bible 2.0 is indeed from 1969, according to Amazon, I don’t think it’s a generalized use. Here is the text in question, from Google Books:
>
> “The things were all like, fuck and shit. Eventually someone decided to take a dump. They took a real big dump. It wasn’t the biggest dump but you know, you know. You know? Shit happens.”
>
> The next paragraph has what might be an antedating for “opposite day,” although I don’t know if anyone is keeping track of when the opposite day concept began. It begins:
>
> “19. God was all like, “It opposites day!” and he turned everyone into a beaver.”
>
>
> John Baker
>
>
>
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>> On Behalf Of Dan Goncharoff
> Sent: Thursday, October 6, 2022 8:04 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: Valid First Use of "Shit Happens" ?
>
> External Email - Think Before You Click
>
>
> Well, Google says it's 1969. The phrase is on p49. The only question is
> whether this is a general usage or a specific usage, or both?
>
> On Thu, Oct 6, 2022, 7:49 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu<mailto:fred.shapiro at yale.edu<mailto:fred.shapiro at yale.edu%3cmailto:fred.shapiro at yale.edu>>> wrote:
>
> > In the past I have checked the alleged 1978 Stephen King usage and it was
> > erroneous.
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
> >
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU%3cmailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>>> on behalf of
> > Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM<mailto:jester at PANIX.COM<mailto:jester at PANIX.COM%3cmailto:jester at PANIX.COM>>>
> > Sent: Thursday, October 6, 2022 4:08 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU%3cmailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>> <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU%3cmailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>>>
> > Subject: Re: Valid First Use of "Shit Happens" ?
> >
> > Fred probably knows about this, being a co-author of the book you cite....
> >
> > The "stuff happens" examples (1944 and 1969) also cited there feel pretty
> > strong to me. The Brown novel is different; it's a more general use ("once
> > you know the reason why shit happens..."), not a universal expression of
> > resignation. I've seen a number of other 1970s examples in this general use.
> >
> > Green's Dictionary of Slang cites the 1990 "complete and uncut" edition of
> > Stephen King's _The Stand_, and dates it to 1978; I think this is probably
> > inaccurate: while this edition did restore a large amount of unused
> > manuscript material that was cut from the original edition, it also
> > included "new material that King added as he reworded the manuscript for a
> > new generation", so I would not consider this reliable evidence for a 1978
> > use.
> >
> > Here's a rock-solid 1983 example--same year as the Eble, but the right
> > phrasing. This is from a Northern California sailing magazine, where it's
> > presented multiple times as an example of a "cruising maxim":
> >
> > 1983 _38 North_ (Jan.) 139: _Shit happens_ The ocean-going equivalent of
> > "That's life"...Our dinghy was stolen. "Shit happens." Your best crewmember
> > runs off with your wife. "Shit happens."
> >
> >
> > https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Flatitude3867jaunse%2Fpage%2F138%2Fmode%2F2up&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C38665fa0f07e477e24a808daa7d68dd9%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638006837202918542%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=a1Z2KCt%2BYcj14hqf4DqTOfGaf7tzqfPZ%2FcxRu2oMtZA%3D&reserved=0<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Flatitude3867jaunse%2Fpage%2F138%2Fmode%2F2up&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C38665fa0f07e477e24a808daa7d68dd9%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638006837202918542%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=a1Z2KCt%2BYcj14hqf4DqTOfGaf7tzqfPZ%2FcxRu2oMtZA%3D&reserved=0><https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Flatitude3867jaunse%2Fpage%2F138%2Fmode%2F2up&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C38665fa0f07e477e24a808daa7d68dd9%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638006837202918542%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=a1Z2KCt%2BYcj14hqf4DqTOfGaf7tzqfPZ%2FcxRu2oMtZA%3D&reserved=0<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Flatitude3867jaunse%2Fpage%2F138%2Fmode%2F2up&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C38665fa0f07e477e24a808daa7d68dd9%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638006837202918542%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=a1Z2KCt%2BYcj14hqf4DqTOfGaf7tzqfPZ%2FcxRu2oMtZA%3D&reserved=0>>
> >
> > Jesse Sheidlower
> >
> > On Thu, Oct 06, 2022 at 03:51:37PM -0400, Nancy Friedman wrote:
> > > I found a 1978 citation ("Tragic Magic," a novel by Wesley Brown) with
> > > evidence of earlier usage:
> > >
> > >
> > https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstronglang.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F08%2F18%2Fshitlike-stuff-happens%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C38665fa0f07e477e24a808daa7d68dd9%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638006837202918542%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=EeOPJiruPhmHGfKeG%2BWPQJQRDfm4%2BQ2avssj4NbKNdY%3D&reserved=0<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstronglang.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F08%2F18%2Fshitlike-stuff-happens%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C38665fa0f07e477e24a808daa7d68dd9%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638006837202918542%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=EeOPJiruPhmHGfKeG%2BWPQJQRDfm4%2BQ2avssj4NbKNdY%3D&reserved=0><https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstronglang.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F08%2F18%2Fshitlike-stuff-happens%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C38665fa0f07e477e24a808daa7d68dd9%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638006837202918542%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=EeOPJiruPhmHGfKeG%2BWPQJQRDfm4%2BQ2avssj4NbKNdY%3D&reserved=0<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstronglang.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F08%2F18%2Fshitlike-stuff-happens%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C38665fa0f07e477e24a808daa7d68dd9%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638006837202918542%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=EeOPJiruPhmHGfKeG%2BWPQJQRDfm4%2BQ2avssj4NbKNdY%3D&reserved=0>>
> > >
> > > On Thu, Oct 6, 2022, 3:35 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu<mailto:fred.shapiro at yale.edu<mailto:fred.shapiro at yale.edu%3cmailto:fred.shapiro at yale.edu>>>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > > It has just dawned on me that I am responsible for a kind of
> > etymological
> > > > urban legend that is not accurate. The Yale Book of Quotations
> > indicated
> > > > that Connie Eble printed "Shit happens" in her 1983 compilation of
> > > > University of North Carolina slang, and this factoid has gained some
> > > > notoriety in the media as the earliest known use of the proverb. But
> > > > Eble's wording was actually "That shit happens." To me that is not the
> > > > real proverb, as it refers to some specific shit as occurring with some
> > > > frequency. The true proverb is a general proposition about the
> > prevalence
> > > > of shit in the world, which the Eble citation is not.
> > > >
> > > > Can anyone help point me to the earliest discoverable
> > general-proposition
> > > > citation for "Shit happens" ?
> > > >
> > > > Fred Shapiro
> > > >
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org<http://www.americandialect.org><http://www.americandialect.org<http://www.americandialect.org>>
> >
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