[Ads-l] immediately if not sooner

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Fun topic, JL. Here is an instance in 1833, but this family of jokes
originated a bit earlier.

Date: August 1833
Periodical: Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country
Volume 8, Number 44
Story Title: The Last Duel I had a hand in
Story Author: C. O' Donoghue (Late Ensign 18th Royal Irish)
Start Page 156, Quote Page 164
Publisher: James Fraser, London
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Fraser_s_Magazine_for_Town_and_Country/bHI-AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22not%20sooner%22

[Begin excerpt]
He was determined to fight; right or wrong, fight he must, and fight
he would — immediately, if not sooner.
[End excerpt]

In 1805 a newspaper in York, England published an advertisement
containing the phrase: "IMMEDIATELY, or sooner, if required".

Date: April 6, 1805
Newspaper: The York Herald
Newspaper Location: York, North Yorkshire, England
Section: Leases Sales
Advertisement: POCKLINGTON
Quote Page 1, Column 3
Database: Newspapers.com
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-yorkshire-herald-and-the-york-herald/208194648/

[Begin excerpt]
-POCKLINGTON-
TO BE LET,
And entered upon IMMEDIATELY, or sooner, if required,
[End excerpt

In 1818 a Pennsylvania newspaper called the following statement an
English Bull (a ludicrous or self-contradictory statement): "To be let
immediately, or sooner if required".

Date: July 22, 1818
Newspaper: The Adams Centinel
Newspaper Location: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Article: An English Bull
Quote Page 4, Column 2
Database: Newspapers.com
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-star-and-sentinel-englishbull/208195362/

[Begin excerpt]
An English Bull.
An advertisement in one of the London daily papers begins thus: "To be
let immediately, or sooner if required."
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Tue, Oct 13, 2026 at 10:22 AM Jonathan Lighter
<00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> Again, older than I'd have thought. All [N]:
>
> 1839 _North Wales Chronicle_ (Bangor) (Dec. 17) 4 : They want to see [it]
> again immediately, if not sooner.
>
> 1853 _Monongalia Mirror_ (Morgantown, Va.) (Feb. 5) 3 : Immediately, - if
> not Sooner!
>
> 1869 _Weekly Advertiser_  (Montgomery, Ala.) (March 9) 2 :  Immediately, if
> not Sooner.
>
> 1891 _Minneapolis Times_ (Jan. 7) 8  : THOSE GALLING BONDS. Sufferers Ask
> the Court to Sever Them Immediately, if Not Sooner.
>
> 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

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