[Ads-l] Antedating of "run it up the flagpole" (1956)

[Jesse Sheidlower]

This is in fact in OED, s.v. _run_ v. Phrases P.3.l., with a first quotation from _12 Angry Men_ in 1955.

"Originally U.S. Advertising slang. to run (an idea, suggestion, etc.) up the flagpole: to try out or subject to general scrutiny, with a view to ascertaining its reception or likely success. Frequently more fully as to run (it, etc.) up the flagpole and see who salutes it (and variants)."

Jesse Sheidlower

On Fri, Aug 01, 2025 at 09:54:41AM -0400, dave at wilton.net wrote:
> 
> Not in OED; GDoS has 1957.
>  
> Kaselow, Joseph. “Advertising Field: Guards Up, Men.” New York Herald Tribune, 12 November 1956, A5/1. ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
>  
> "The [newspaper feature] writer said he would get back to the p. r. man and in a short while he did. And here, so help me, is what he said: 'I took it in to one of the editors and ran it up the flagpole, but nobody saluted; so I guess it’s dead.'"
>  
> Kaselow, Joseph. “Advertising Field: Sound and Fury.” New York Herald Tribune, 15 November 1956, A7/5. ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
>  
> "The other day we had an item about a newspaper feature writer who turned down a story by saying he’s taken to the editors and run it up the flagpole, but nobody saluted. We played it up as a case of the creeping influence of Madison Ave. on the native—and what’s worse, the editorial tongu[e]."
> 
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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