[Ads-l] Saying: Labor-saving devices don't save labor

[mr_peter_morris@outlook.com]

We have every sort of gadget now for every sort of chore,
But it's much more work and worry than it ever was before.
....
Please don't save us labour any more.

Flanders and Swann.
Too many   cookers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ko4biCUc4M&list=RD9Ko4biCUc4M&start_radio=1


------ Original Message ------
From "ADSGarson O'Toole" 
<00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Date 22/07/2025 01:56:34
Subject Saying: Labor-saving devices don't save labor

>Canadian Journalist Doug Saunders of the Globe and Mail asked me to
>explore the following saying:
>
>No labour-saving device has ever saved anyone a moment's labour
>
>This notion can be expressed in many ways; hence, it is difficult to
>trace. John Stuart Mill articulated the central idea in 1848 although
>he employed a different phrasing. Here is a link to the Quote
>Investigator article followed by an overview with dates and
>attributions:
>
>https://quoteinvestigator.com/2025/07/20/save-labor/
>
>1848: It is questionable if all the mechanical inventions yet made
>have lightened the day’s toil of any human being (John Stuart Mill)
>
>1869: All the contrivances of science and art for economy of labor do
>not save labor, but stimulate production (C. Palfrey)
>
>1885: All the labor-saving machinery that has hitherto been invented
>has not lessened the toil of a single human being (Attributed to John
>Stuart Mill by Henry George)
>
>1900: No labor-saving invention has been used to save labor, but to
>increase it (J. E. Jennings)
>
>1905: Labor-saving devices don’t save labor. They increase it (Anonymous)
>
>1929: Labor-saving devices don’t save labor which is proven by the
>fact that men never worked as many days per annum or worked as
>feverishly as they have since the advent of the labor-saving devices
>(Adam Coaldigger)
>
>1935: The plain fact is that labor-saving machinery doesn’t save labor
>at all (Howard Vincent O’Brien)
>
>1962: Labor-saving machinery had in fact not saved any labor
>(Attributed to John Stuart Mill by August Heckscher)
>
>1989: The fact is that a lot of labour-saving devices don’t really
>save labour (Sue Birchmore)
>
>2008: No labor-saving device has ever saved a minute of labor!
>(Attributed to H. L. Mencken)
>
>A separate QI article is focused on the 1848 statement written by
>John Stuart Mill:
>https://quoteinvestigator.com/2025/07/21/machine-toil/
>
>Feedback and illuminating citations would be welcome.
>Garson O'Toole
>QuoteInvestigator.com
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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