[Ads-l] rent-free in your head

[Jonathan Lighter]

Nice work, Steve.

I can remember when Ann Landers popularized (or helped popularize) the
phrase "fifty lashes with a wet noodle."

JL

On Wed, Dec 6, 2023 at 10:27 AM Steven Losie <stevenlosie at gmail.com> wrote:

> Very interesting, Jonathan. I'm surprised that the phrase has been around
> that long! After doing a little bit of research myself, here are a couple
> of earlier ones. Is Ann Landers responsible for popularizing this phrase?:
>
> [begin quote]
> Gem of the Day: Hanging on to resentment is letting someone you despise
> live rent free in your head.
> [end quote]
> Source: Ukiah Daily Journal (Ukiah, California), 8 March 1990, p.8, col.6 (
> newspapers.com)
> Author: Ann Landers
>
> Ann Landers, of course, was a syndicated columnist, so the above quote is
> found in many newspapers on that same day. But I cited that newspaper
> specifically, because, about eighteen months later, someone else published
> in that same paper cited Ann Landers specifically when recounting the
> phrase:
>
> [begin quote]
> I thought about him again this morning when I read this "Gem of the Day" in
> Ann Landers:
>
> Hanging on to resentment is letting someone you despise live rent free in
> your head.
> [end quote]
> Source: Ukiah Daily Journal (Ukiah, California), 6 Oct 1991, p.4, col.4 (
> newspapers.com)
> Author: Elaine Gray (Donrey News Service)
>
> I don't see any evidence that the Ann Landers quote had been reprinted in
> the interim, so it appears to have been memorable to at least some readers.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
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>


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"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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