[Ads-l] Quip Origin: There Are More Horses' Asses Than Horses

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Follow up: Thanks again to Bill for locating an instance of the joke
about horses' asses in "The Book of a Thousand Laughs".

I looked through the book to gather more evidence about its
publication date. I encountered a joke in which Henry Ford was dead.
Ford was referred to as a "deceased Detroiter". The joke contained the
phrase: "Henry presented himself at the gates of Heaven" (Page 45).

Henry Ford died in 1947 which suggests that the book was published after 1947.

On the other hand, the joke was presented as a dream; hence, it
remains possible that Ford was still alive when the book was
published. Perhaps, the dream was set in the future. Alternatively,
the dream was set in an alternate timeline. There is no publication
date listed within the book. The Internet Archive metadata lists 1928.
Another important reference work accepted the 1928 date.

Conclusion: Based on current evidence I will not use the 1928 date.
Garson

On Tue, Nov 26, 2024 at 9:15 AM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Great citation, Bill. Thanks for searching and sharing what you found.
>
> No publication date or copyright date is specified  in the front
> matter. Unfortunately, the metadata in the Internet Archive is
> sometimes inaccurate. The book mentions “1928 flappers” and contains a
> form in which the year begins with “192”. Hence, the date is
> plausible.
>
> I will probably state “circa 1928” when I can update the website after
> Thanksgiving.
>
> Garson
>
> On Tue, Nov 26, 2024 at 12:50 AM Bill Mullins <amcombill at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Garson found a 1931 cite, with an 1828 precursor.
> >
> > 1928 O.U. Schweinickle The Book of a Thousand Laughs 8
> >
> > Isn't it peculiar that there are so many more Horses Asses in the world than there are Horses?
> >
> > https://archive.org/details/1928thebookofathousandlaughs/page/8/mode/1up?q=%22more+horses+asses%22
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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