[Ads-l] Quip: It's not the fall that kills (hurts) you; it's the sudden stop at the end

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The quip in the subject has been attributed to humorist Douglas Adams
posthumously. I was asked to explore this family of jokes. The
phrasing is highly variable which makes tracing difficult. The
earliest match I found appeared in 1853:

[ref] 1853 October, The Ladies’ Repository, Editor’s Repository, What
Makes a Fall Unpleasant, Quote Page 471 and 472,  T. Carlton and Z.
Phillips, New York. (Google Books Full View) [/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
After a late supper, and two or three extra glasses, Charlie Bates is
apt to be somnambulistic. Night before last, being an occasion of this
kind, he backed himself out of his chamber window and fell to the
pavement, a distance of ten or twelve feet. A passer-by came up to
condole with him, remarking, "You seem to have had a bad fall." "My
dear sir," answered Charlie, "the fall was a trifle not worth
mentioning; but the sudden stop was decidedly unpleasant."
[End excerpt]

Here is a link to the Quote Investigator article:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2025/03/25/sudden-stop/

Feedback and interesting citations would be welcomed,
Garson

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