[Ads-l] Proverb Origin: Inside Every Old Person There Is a Young Person Trying to Get Out

[Emily Gordon]

Also common, unfortunately, is the phrase "Inside every fat person is a
thin person trying to get out." I see there's a recent Quote Investigator
post on this!

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2025/11/20/fat-thin/

On Sun, Nov 23, 2025 at 12:20 PM Jonathan Lighter <
00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> Correctly: "...there is..."
>
> JL
>
> On Sun, Nov 23, 2025 at 3:03 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > More familiar today, perhaps, is the derivative line from _Full Metal
> > Jacket_ (1987): "Inside every gook is an American trying to get out."
> >
> > The line does not appear in Gustav Hasford's source novel, _The
> > Short-Timers_.  Hasford shared script-writing credit for the film with
> > Michael Herr and Stanley Kubrick (in reverse order).
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Sun, Nov 23, 2025 at 2:14 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <
> > 00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
> >
> >> "The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs" has a helpful entry for the saying
> >> in the subject line. The first citation is from 1973.
> >>
> >> Below I present precursors in 1962 and 1964 together with a solid
> >> match in 1968. I conjecture that this saying about the old/young
> >> dichotomy evolved from a saying about the fat/thin dichotomy which
> >> employed the same template.
> >>
> >> There is a separate QI article about the fat/thin family of sayings
> >> located here.
> >> https://quoteinvestigator.com/2025/11/20/fat-thin/
> >>
> >> The first partial match I found for the old/young saying appeared in
> >> 1962. The following excerpt also mentioned the fat/thin saying:
> >>
> >> [ref] 1962 August 17, The Esher News and Advertiser, Mainly for Women
> >> by Mary Courtland, Quote Page 4, Column 2, Esher, Surrey, England.
> >> (Newspapers_com) [/ref]
> >>
> >> [Begin excerpt]
> >> Someone said that inside every fat man is a thin one trying to get
> >> out. I'd like to adapt that and say that inside every middle-aged
> >> person is a young one trying to get out. Sometimes, of course, they
> >> do, with startling results!
> >> [End excerpt]
> >>
> >> In 1964 "The Pittsburgh Press" of Pennsylvania published a piece by
> >> columnist Harriet Van Horne which contained a partial match. The
> >> following excerpt also mentioned the fat/thin saying:
> >>
> >> [ref] 1964 December 9, The Pittsburgh Press, Old-Timers Give Screen
> >> Glow by Harriet Van Horne (Scripps-Howard Staff Writer), Quote Page
> >> 90, Column 3, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com) link [/ref]
> >>
> https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-inside/184095434/
> >>
> >> [Begin excerpt]
> >> Inside every fat man, runs the adage, there's a captive thin man,
> >> begging to come out.
> >> Extending this we may fairly say that inside every old trouper worth
> >> his salt there's a frisky young devil who--the instant the lights go
> >> down--does come out.
> >> [End excerpt]
> >>
> >> In 1968 William D. McBride, assistant director of public relations of
> >> Martin Marietta Corporation, employed the saying during a discussion
> >> held at the University of Iowa's Centennial Press Conference:
> >>
> >> [ref] 1968 October 26, Iowa City Press-Citizen, Novelist Miller Heads
> >> Panel: 'Hatred for the Young' Debated, Quote Page 3A, Column 3, Iowa
> >> City, Iowa. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]
> >>
> >> [Begin excerpt]
> >> McBride said, "Inside every old man is a young one trying to get out."
> >> He doesn't hate young people, he said, but he is exasperated by them.
> >> [End excerpt]
> >>
> >> The QI article about this proverb is scheduled for future posting.
> >>
> >> I started to explore the saying in the subject line while researching
> >> a related inquiry about: "Inside Every Old Person There Is a Young
> >> Person Wondering What Happened". Here is the link to that previous QI
> >> article:
> >> https://quoteinvestigator.com/2025/11/01/old-young/
> >>
> >> Feedback welcome
> >> Garson
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> 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."
> >
>
>
> --
> "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
>

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