[Ads-l] The Fickle Finger of Fate

[Laurence Horn]

I did indeed associate it with the Laugh-In Flying Fickle Finger, which was
first awarded to the U. S. Congress for refusing to pass gun control
legislation (plus ça change...) and was reified in the form of this elegant
heirloom that figured in Christie's catalogue a couple of decades ago:

https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-4417639



On Wed, Jan 15, 2014 at 2:02 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Some of us may associate this phrase with Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (where
> it figured in the weekly "Flying Fickle Finger of Fate Award."
>
> Others, more knowledgeable, believe it arose during World War II.
>
> Both wrong:
>
> 1934 _Arcadia [Calif.] Tribune_ (July 7) 7: But the fickle finger of
> fate...decreed otherwise.
>
> 1936 _Ruston [La.] Daily Ledger_   (May 2) 4: Anyway, we hope the little
> pup has better luck than his predecessors, whose lives were cut short by
> the fickle finger of fate.
>
> 1937 _Times-Picayune_ (N.O.) (Aug. 8) IV 2: Kissinger is the correspondent
> responsible for the vivid "fickle finger of fate" account of McLaney's
> injury.
>
> The fickle finger strikes, and, having struck, moves on....
>
> JL
>
> --
> "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