[Ads-l] once an accident, twice a coincidence...

[Ben Zimmer]

A line in Ian Fleming's _Goldfinger_ (1959) is often quoted:

"Mr. Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: 'Once is happenstance. Twice is
coincidence. The third time it's enemy action.'"

I don't know if that was ever a saying in Chicago, but here are some early
variants:

---
Saturday Evening Post, May 19, 1900, p. 1077, col. 3
Edith Nesbit, "The Hermit of the Yews"
Once might be accident; twice coincidence; three times is too much.
https://archive.org/details/sim_saturday-evening-post_1900-05-19_172_47/page/1077/mode/1up
---
Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 17, 1900, p. 8, col. 3
"Bryan and a Third Nomination" (unsigned editorial)
And so with Bryan. Once was an accident. Twice was a co-incident. But a
third nomination would be a bad habit.
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-once-was-an-ac/183422807/
also quoted with "coincidence" rather than "co-incident":
https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-once-was-an-accident-tw/183423120/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/joplin-news-herald-once-was-an-accident/183422711/
---
Hartford Courant, Dec. 7, 1909, p. 14, col. 1
The first time her husband fell out of the window was an accident; the
second time it was a coincident and the third time it was a habit.
https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-first-time-was-an-accid/183436394/
---
New Orleans Times-Picayune, Aug 18, 1912, p. 30
A fire occurring once may be an accident, recurring at the same place is a
coincidence, but when a fire starts a third time, it becomes a bad habit.
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-picayune-once-may-be-an-accide/183436624/
---
West Yorkshire (UK) Pioneer, Aug. 13, 1915, p. 8, col. 2
Once might be an accident, twice a coincidence, but three times was, he
thought, something else.
https://www.newspapers.com/article/west-yorkshire-pioneer-and-east-lancashi/183422441/
---

--bgz

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