[Ads-l] My work here is done

[Stephen Goranson]

I was born in 1950, the year radiocarbon daters call The Present, and saw most or all of the TV episodes.
When his work was done, he slipped away silently, except maybe for brief private comment to Tonto, and of course to his horse, Silver. I don't recall him saying my work here is done.

sg
________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2023 12:48 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: My work here is done

I first noticed this at the end of an episode of either Highway to Heaven
(ca.1988) or Touched by an Angel (mid '90s). My guess is the former,
because I've always associated it with Michael Landon. What he said, I
believe, is "Our work here is done."  It may even have been the usual
closing line of the show, which I watched only once.

Also FWIW, I probably saw every episode of the Lone Ranger TV series in the
'50s (and a lot of other things as well), but the phrase struck me as novel
when I heard it decades later.

JL

On Wed, Oct 18, 2023 at 12:17 PM Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:

> Another character says this about him:
> "He's gone, Dad; he never stays around once his work is done."
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb7ORC_sCnY__;!!OToaGQ!vqupMozY4MIeA1C0QySqmAqxq8cDPQduHEkLxLA5pbDY45uu6uZFnzUG5i2ybKbuiRs7ZnbmY6qUFcqlz7tA3A$
> 1.03
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> dave at wilton.net <dave at WILTON.NET>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2023 11:53 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: My work here is done
>
>
> Languagehat has a nice write up on the catchphrase "my work here is done."
> [
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://languagehat.com/my-work-here-is-done/__;!!OToaGQ!uETnWgs-cV_1IqMradPPA8VOBMuCCoNL_Upg7FhsfjVw02tjaWFlAFK2EAeRB1u-Hrx_DhDvBLJb$
> ](
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://languagehat.com/my-work-here-is-done/__;!!OToaGQ!uETnWgs-cV_1IqMradPPA8VOBMuCCoNL_Upg7FhsfjVw02tjaWFlAFK2EAeRB1u-Hrx_DhDvBLJb$
> )
>
> The catchphrase is almost universally attributed to the Lone Ranger, but I
> have been unable to find an actual example from an episode of the radio
> show or television series that uses the phrase.
>
> Of course, most of the episodes are not readily available, and even fewer
> have been transcribed to make them readily searchable. (I listened to a
> number of the radio recordings but gave it up as being too time consuming
> before finding an example.)
>
> There are probably examples out there, but I'm beginning to wonder if this
> is an example of the Mandela effect.
>
> Does anyone have any ideas on where to look?
>
>
>
>
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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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