[Ads-l] Saying Origin: You Can=?UTF-8?Q?=E2=80=99t_?=Live With Them, and You Can't Live Without Them

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Thanks for your response, Pete. The New York Times attributes the
"can't shoot 'em" variant to comedian Steven Wright in 1985. Spin
published a version referring to kids, and Playboy published one
referring to men.

Date: April 28, 1985
Newspaper: The New York Times
Newspaper Location: New York
Section: The New York Times Magazine
Article: Survival: The New York Joke by James Gleick
Start Page 49, Quote Page 66
[Begin excerpt]
For example, a young comic named Steven Wright tells this joke: "Women
— you can't live with 'em, you can't shoot 'em." It works in the city.
"But if you went to the hinterlands they wouldn't know what to make of
that," Grundfest says.
[End excerpt]

Date: October 1985
Periodical: Spin
Volume 1, Number 6
Article: Why Young People Wear Black by Glenn O'Brien
Quote Page 98, Column 1
Publisher: Spin Magazine, New York
[Begin excerpt]
Kids! You can’t live with 'em . . . and you can't shoot 'em. What the
heck's the matter with kids today? They look weird.
[End excerpt]

Date: November 1985
Volume 32, Number 11
Periodical: Playboy
Article: Women: Extremely Trivial Pursuits by Cynthia Heimel
Quote Pag 37, Column 3
Publisher: Playboy Enterprises Inc.
[Begin excerpt]
"Men," said Rita. "Can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em. Tell her,
Jake, before someone else does."
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Mon, Sep 14, 2026 at 10:06 AM Pete Morris
<mr_peter_morris at outlook.com> wrote:
>
> Women, you can't live with them, pass the beer nuts.
> - Norm Peterson, Cheers.
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJiDzin8zqE
>
> -------------------------------------
>
> Women, can't live with them, can't shoot them.
>
> - Attributed to many.
>

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