[Ads-l] Catchphrase Origin: Is the Pope Catholic?

[Jesse Sheidlower]

There's also the switcheroo version, which I was surprised to find as early as 1971 (along with several other 1970s examples):

1971 _Space City!_ (Houston) Nov. 18 28/4 (TV listing):
10:00 pm — _IS PARIS BURNING?_ Is the Bear Catholic? Does a pope shit in the woods? Ch 26.

https://archive.org/details/spacecity03spac_21/page/28/mode/1up

Jesse Sheidlower

On Fri, Nov 07, 2025 at 04:09:49PM -0500, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>  Back when I was collecting for HDAS (1975-76) a fellow grad student
> volunteered the roughly interchangeable phrases, "Is the Pope Catholic?"
> and "Does a bear shit in the woods?"  "Does a chicken have lips?" could be
> either negative or (illogically) positive.
> 
> >From Internet Archive:
> 
> 1963 _Praeterita_ (Arvin [Calif.] High School) 41: Does a chicken have lips?
> 
> All from Newspapers.com:
> 
> 1969 _L.A. Times_  (WEST Magazine) (Mar. 16) 32: Speaking of that, will you
> [Lew Alcindor] have a manager?  "Does a chicken have lips? I'm going to
> hire help. man. Just _hire_ 'em...and I won't have to be giving up 10
> percent of my whole income. You hip to it?"
> 
> [1970 _Blade_ (Toledo, O.) (Apr. 30) 21: Does a chicken have lips?  Rickey
> says they do, but I say they don't.]
> 
> 1974 _ Transcript_  (North Adams, Mass.) (June 8) 15: Did we seniors enjoy
> our four years at Greylock? Does a chicken have lips?
> 
> 1975 _Austin American-Statesman_ (Mar. 28) 8: Will the rooster's beaked
> bugle be stilled in this East Texas town? Does a chicken have lips?...Judge
> Davis Cook has preserved...the sacred alarm of Ross Wyatt's bantam rooster.
> 
> 1975 _Commercial Appeal_ (Memphis, Tenn.) (Jul. 6) TV-3: Does Dean Martin
> drink? Does a chicken have lips? "Of course I drink," says Dean.
> 
> Etc., etc.
> 
> JL
> 
> On Fri, Nov 7, 2025 at 12:32 AM ADSGarson O'Toole <
> 00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
> 
> > Scholar Charles Clay Doyle calls the phrase in the subject line a
> > sarcastic interrogative, and he mentions other phrases in this family
> > such as "Is water wet?", "Can birds fly?", and "Is the sky blue?".
> >
> > [ref] 1975 Spring, Midwestern Journal of Language and Folklore, Volume
> > 1, Number 1, Sarcastic Interrogative Affirmatives and Negatives by
> > Charles Clay Doyle, Start Page 33, End Page 34, Indiana State
> > University, Terre Haute, Indiana. (HathiTrust Full View) [/ref]
> >
> > The wonderful website "Green's Dictionary of Slang" lists several
> > examples together with citations. Here is a link:
> > https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/6dklozy
> >
> > Way back in February 2011 sarcastic interrogatives were discussed on
> > this mailing list in two threads:
> > https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2011-February/107011.html
> > https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2011-February/107021.html
> >
> > Recently, I was communicating with quotation expert Nigel Rees, and he
> > suggested exploring "Is the Pope Catholic?".
> >
> > The earliest match for the target phrase with the desired sense I
> > found appeared on August 24, 1952, within a San Antonio, Texas
> > newspaper. An article about adventurer Jim Furlong described his
> > journey sailing half-way around the world in a small sailing boat.
> > Unfortunately, he suffered an accident that damaged his foot. Furlong
> > was asked about his experience:
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > Would he do it all over again?
> > "Is the Pope a Catholic," grinned Furlong. "Sure I would. I'm already
> > planning my next trip -- and it's going to be the biggest yet."
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > I also found multiple earlier instances which were comical, but not
> > sarcastic. For example, on December 28, 1854, "The Boston Herald" of
> > Massachusetts printed the following short item titled "A Catholic Know
> > Nothing":
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > An Irishwoman in this city, not long since, while listening to some
> > conversation respecting Nicholas and the Pope, inquired, very
> > innocently -- "Is the Pope a Catholic?" Fact.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Here is a link to the Quote Investigator article:
> > https://quoteinvestigator.com/2025/11/07/pope-catholic/
> >
> > Feedback and interesting material about "Is the Pope Catholic?" would be
> > welcome
> > Garson O'Toole
> > QuoteInvestigator.com
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> 
> 
> -- 
> "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

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