[Ads-l] a long walk off a short pier

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Barry Popik clipped the 1935 citation below for the close variant
using the phrase "long walk off a short plank". I visited Barry's
website and searched for "short plank" and "short pier", but I was
unable to find any pertinent articles on Barry's website.

Date: April 2, 1935
Newspaper: The Morning Post
Newspaper Location: Camden, New Jersey
Article: The Heart Forum
Author: Renee Page
Quote Page 12, Column 7
Database: Newspapers.com

https://www.newspapers.com/article/courier-post-take-a-long-walk-on-a-shor/35439723/

[Begin excerpt]
Then, you had better take yourself on a long walk off a short plank
and end the misery, too.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sun, Nov 23, 2025 at 2:54 PM Jonathan Lighter
<00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> I heard this one in 1961 or '62.
>
> 1938 _Greenwich [Conn.] Time_ (Apr. 1, 1938) 7 [GenealogyBank]: I'll thank
> you to blow away or take a long walk off a short pier.
>
> 2025
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/jd-vances-latest-advice-americans-205906536.html
> (Nov. 23):
> The thing I'd ask of JD Vance is to take a long walk off a short pier.
>
> 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

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