Woody and Wilcox a Baby That Learned Its Lesson
Ernest Hemingway? Mark Twain? Luke McLuke? Lydia DeVilbiss? Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.? Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.? Frederick B. Wilcox? Abigail Van Buren? Anonymous?
Dear Quote Investigator: While searching the twitter database I encountered the following ii similar jokes:
(1) Humans need two years to learn to speak and 60 years to learn to close upward.
(two) It takes two years to learn to talk, and the rest of your life to control your oral fissure.
Ernest Hemingway received credit for the first, and Marking Twain received credit for the second. I am skeptical of both of these ascriptions. Would you please explore this topic?
Quote Investigator: QI has found no substantive evidence that either of these famous quotation magnets employed this quip. The expression is highly variable which makes this large family of quips hard to trace, and this commodity will only present a snapshot of current research.
The earliest friction match located by QI appeared in a 1909 editorial published in a Wenatchee, Washington newspaper. The context indicated that the quip was already in circulation; hence, the ascription was anonymous. The give-and-take "exuberance" was misspelled as "exhuberance": [1] 1909 October 13, The Wenatchee Daily Earth, A Diplomat Must Be Discreet, Quote Folio 4, Cavalcade i, Wenatchee, Washington. (Newspapers_com)
It is unfortunate that Charles R. Crane, who was recently designated as minister to Cathay should have been led by an exhuberance of enthusiasm and involvement in Oriental diplomacy to make remarks which might testify embarrassing to the administration. His indiscretion gives emphasis to the remark that it takes a person ii years to learn how to talk and all the remainder of his life to larn to keep from talking too much.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological guild.
In March 1913 an instance in a St. Petersburg, Florida newspaper was labelled an "old maxim": [2] 1913 March 29, St. Petersburg Daily Times (Tampa Bay Times), Seen On the Side, Quote Page 2, Column four, Saint petersburg, Florida. (Newspapers_com)
There'southward an old proverb that it takes a human being two years to learn how to talk then he spends the residuum of his life learning to continue his rima oris shut.
In December 1913 a version using "baby" appeared in "The Detroit Complimentary Press" of Michigan with an acknowledgement to some other paper: [3] 1913 Dec 24, The Detroit Free Press, Printing Siftings, Quote Folio 4, Column 4, Detroit, Michigan. (Newspapers_com)
It takes a baby a footling over a twelvemonth to learn how to talk, but it takes a longer time than that to acquire not to.—New Orleans Footling.
In September 1915 a version appeared in the widely distributed cavalcade "Bits of Byplay" past Luke McLuke of "The Cincinnati Enquirer" in Ohio: [4] 1915 September 20, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Bits of Byplay by Luke McLuke, Quote Page half dozen, Column 7, Cincinnati, Ohio. (Newspapers_com)
A man can acquire to talk in two years. Just it takes him all the remainder of his life to learn to keep his mouth close.
Ii days later a paper in Elwood, Indiana published this close variant with "lifetime": [5] 1915 September 22, The Elwood Telephone call Leader, (Filler particular), Quote Page iv, Cavalcade 2, Elwood, Indiana. (Newspapers_com)
A human being learns to talk in ii years but it takes him a lifetime to acquire to proceed his rima oris shut.
Another 2 days later a paper in Macon, Mississippi printed this variant mentioning "xl two": [6] 1915 September 24, The Macon Buoy, The Mystery of Silence, Quote Folio 1, Column 5, Macon, Mississippi. (Newspapers_com)
It takes a baby about two years to acquire how to talk—a human being, xl-two, to learn silence.
In March 1917 the words of Luke McLuke were recalled in a slightly garbled form. The phrase "larn to walk" replaced "learn to talk": [7] 1917 March two, The Wilmington Daily News, (Filler item), Quote Page 2, Column one, Wilmington, Ohio. (Newspapers_com)
Luke McLuke says that a man can learn to walk in two years, but information technology takes him all the rest of his life to larn to go along his mouth close. And you certainly accept noticed, Luke, that very few men always live long enough to larn the lesson then they can say information technology off the book, every bit it were.
Also, in March 1917 Dr. Lydia DeVilbiss of Topeka, Kansas employed a variant with "iii years" instead of "two years" while addressing a Women's Civic Club: [eight] 1917 March 21, The Atchison Daily Globe, City Items: Collection of News Paragraphs and Advertisements, Quote Page seven, Column 2, Atchison, Kansas. (Newspapers_com)
Another argument Dr. DeVilbiss made which caused a smile to go around was that information technology takes a child three years to learn to talk, and the remainder of his life to learn to go on his mouth shut.
In 1920 the joke reappeared in the cavalcade "Bits of Byplay" by Luke McLuke, only the barb began with a "boy baby": [9] 1920 October 8, Arkansas Democrat, Bits of Byplay by Luke McLuke, Quote Page fourteen, Column two,Fiddling Stone, Arkansas. (Newspapers_com)
Information technology takes a boy babe well-nigh a year to learn how to talk. Then it takes him the next l years to acquire how to keep his oral fissure shut.
In 1935 a version with "girl infant" appeared in a Rayville, Louisiana paper: [x] 1935 December fourteen, The Richland Buoy-News, (Filler detail), Quote Folio 5, Column 3, Rayville, Louisiana. (Newspapers_com)
It takes a girl babe approximately 2 years to acquire how to talk and between sixty and lxx-5 years to larn how to shut upward.
In 1944 a columnist in a Birmingham, Alabama newspaper made an ambiguous attribution to Oliver Wendell Holmes. Senior died in 1894 and Inferior died in 1935: [xi] 1944 June 22, The Birmingham News Good English by Mrs. J. N. Cornelius, Quote Folio 10, Column 3, Birmingham, Alabama. (Newspapers_com)
Oliver Wendell Holmes said: "It takes a baby approximately two years to learn to talk, and between 60 and 75 years to learn to go on his mouth shut."
In 1968 a columnist in a Rochester, New York paper stated that she collected aphorisms, and she presented the following: [12] 1968 March 8, Democrat and Chronicle, Today's Starter: Comfort for Confused Males by Deborah Walker, Quote Page 6B, Cavalcade four, Rochester, New York. (Newspapers_com)
Some of my favorites are by Frederick B. Wilcox who was kind enough to share them with me.
"You tin acquire to talk in ii years simply it takes a lifetime to know when to keep silent."
In 1989 advice columnist Abigail Van Buren (Pauline Phillips) employed the proverb: [13] 1989 Nov 13, Palladium-Item, Honey Abby: Reader says humbug to early Christmas by Abigail Van Buren, Quote Folio A7, Column 6, Richmond, Indiana. (Newspapers_com)
Strange how most people tin can learn to talk in two years, just it takes a lifetime to learn to proceed quiet.
In 2008 the handle @betobeto tweeted a version with an improbable linkage to Ernest Hemingway: [14] Tweet, From: Beto pero no Fernández @betobeto, Time: 5:25 PM, Appointment: June 26, 2008, Text: "It takes ii years to learn to talk, 7 years to learn to think and sixty years to learn to shut … Keep reading
"Information technology takes two years to learn to talk, 7 years to learn to think and sixty years to learn to shut upward" – attributed to Hemingway
In 2010 twitter handle @CPuntayTacon ascribed a different instance to Hemingway: [15] Tweet, From: Carmen Porcel @CPuntayTacon, Fourth dimension: 6:21 PM, Date: April 16, 2010, Text: Humans demand two years to learn to speak and threescore years to learn to shut upward. (Hemingway). (Accessed on twitter.com … Continue reading
Humans need ii years to learn to speak and sixty years to learn to close up. (Hemingway)
In 2012 twitter handle @JerryWittIII attributed an instance to Mark Twain: [16] Tweet, From: Jerry D. Witt 3 @JerryWittIII, Time: 12:51 PM, Date: May 27, 2012, Text: Information technology takes two years to learn to talk, and the rest of your life to command your oral cavity. – Marker Twain. … Continue reading
It takes two years to acquire to talk, and the rest of your life to command your mouth. – Mark Twain
In conclusion, this anonymous joke was circulating by 1909, and many variations have evolved over time. The column of Luke McLuke was an important popularizer of the quip beginning in 1915. The attributions to Ernest Hemingway and Marker Twain are unsupported.
Paradigm Notes: Silhouette of child and caregiver from OpenClipart-Vectors at Pixabay.
(Great cheers to J. Leslie Booth whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.)
Source: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2019/09/27/quiet/
Enregistrer un commentaire for "Woody and Wilcox a Baby That Learned Its Lesson"