[Ads-l] Quip Origin: Everything Beeps Now

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

I was asked to explore the remark in the subject line which has been
attributed to comedian George Carlin. The 2001 book "Napalm & Silly
Putty" by Carlin did contain the line in a section called "Short
Takes".

Thus, George Carlin helped to popularize this quip, yet it was already
in circulation. Below are three examples:

1984 May 09: Now everything goes "BEEP!" (Columnist by Larry Tobin)
1988 Apr 20: Everything beeps in this society (Journalist Bill Hall)
1989 Apr 20: Now almost everything beeps (Columnist Carol Mueller)

Here is a link to the Quote Investigator article:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/02/28/everything-beeps/

Feedback welcome
Garson O'Toole

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