"Face the Music"
Alasdair Baxter
where the phrase "Face the Music" comes from?
--
Alasdair Baxter, Nottingham, UK.Tel +44 115 9705100; Fax +44 115 9423263
"It's not what you say that matters but how you say it.
It's not what you do that matters but how you do it"
John Dean
> I wonder if any of the learned contributors to this group can tell me
> where the phrase "Face the Music" comes from?
The earliest cite in OED is :
<< 1850 Congress. Globe App. 4 Mar. 324/3 There should be no skulking or
dodging+every man should 'face the music'.>>
--
John Dean
Oxford
De-frag to reply
Alasdair Baxter
<john...@frag.lineone.net> wrote:
><< 1850 Congress. Globe App. 4 Mar. 324/3 There should be no skulking or
>dodging+every man should 'face the music'.>>
Sorry, but this doesn't explain the derivation of the expression. It
just shows that it was used in 1850.
tomca...@yanospamhoo.com
> On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 02:17:23 -0000, "John Dean"
> <john...@frag.lineone.net> wrote:
>><< 1850 Congress. Globe App. 4 Mar. 324/3 There should be no skulking or
>>dodging+every man should 'face the music'.>>
> Sorry, but this doesn't explain the derivation of the expression. It
> just shows that it was used in 1850.
Word Detective says:
Some authorities believe that "face the music" comes from the musical theater,
and refers to the pit orchestra that the actors or performers must face while
they are on stage. "Facing the music," in this scenario, would be an allusion
to actors' dogged determination to go on with the show in spite of the stage
fright felt by many performers.
Another popular theory traces "face the music" to the military, possibly to
a ceremony stripping a soldier of his rank to the accompaniment of a
military band. This explanation is not impossible, but etymologist Robert
Claiborne has come up with another one that strikes me as much more likely.
The "music," Claiborne theorizes, may have been a sardonic reference to
either the gunfire of battle or the loud reprimands issued by officers,
either of which would be very difficult to face.
http://www.word-detective.com/093098.html
I vote for the musical theater theory. I can't believe any military would
assemble a band to cashier an officer.
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
[...]
> "It's not what you say that matters but how you say it.
> It's not what you do that matters but how you do it"
It's not what you know but whom you blow."
--
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
John Dean
Never underestimate the military love of ceremonial. And not just for
officers
http://www.folk-network.com/products/notes/tightlittle.html
<< Frank Kidson (Groves' Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol IV, 1908)
had this to say:
"The Rogues' March:
Originally a military quickstep, which for some cause has become appropriate
to use when offenders are drummed out of the army. When, from theft, or
other crime, it is decided to expel a man from the regiment, the buttons
bearing the regimental number, and other special decorations, are cut from
his coat, and he is then marched, to the music of drums and fifes playing
The Rogues' March, to the barrack gates, and kicked or thrust out into the
street. The ceremony still continues at the present day. >>
You may see and hear it here:
http://www.fifedrum.org/crfd/images/CD11.htm
There are even those who claim 'The Rogues' March' was played by the Rebels
when Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. Others believe it was 'The World
turned Upside Down'. A minority favo(u)r 'Hit the Road, Jack'
Donna Richoux
[snip interesting description and URL of tune.]
Be that as it may, the Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs thinks that
"face the music" is an Americanism.
Face the music, To.
[= to face boldly the consequences of one's
actions, to accept the inevitable.]
~1851 J.F. Cooper in Schele De Vere /Americanisms
(1872)/ Rabelais' unpleasant 'quarter' is by our
more picturesque people called facing the music.
1897 Rhodes in Westm. Gaz. I will not refer to the
vulgar colloquialism that I was afraid to face the
music.
I would hazard the guess that the OED entry with which you began is also
American, given the word "Congress."
*My* thought was immediately of dancing. In English country/contra
dancing, the kind done in the time of the Stuarts through Regency
England and after, and adapted in the US colonies and later, "to face"
is a common word in the calls or instructions: "face your partner,"
"face out," "face right" and so on. Indeed the first figure in maybe
half of all English country dances begin with all the dancers facing up
the hall -- defined as, toward the music -- and "Leading up a double"
(making a few steps forward). Since that's how the dances begin, that
could have led to the colloquial meaning, via the sense of, let's get
going, let's start.
But I guess "face the music" could not have been an actual dance call or
else there would never have been any mystery. Dance instructions were
published in manuals even as far back as 1651. I've checked the texts of
a couple of line and, to no surprise, found no "face the music" or
similar.
Irving Berlin wrote a song in the 1930s, "Let's Face the Music and
Dance," but that doesn't help anything, really.
I just checked RHHDAS, which has a long entry.
First is the definition "to face hardship or danger," with seven
citations from 1850 to 1900. The first is the same as the one in the
OED. I notice that the quotes do not seem at all to be military in
nature -- although the three from 1861-4 are about army life, as you
might imagine.
Second is the definition "to face the consequences," marked "now
Standard English," with citations from 1862 to 1991.
Origin still a mystery.
--
Best -- Donna Richoux
Ben Zimmer
>
> John Dean <john...@frag.lineone.net> wrote:
>
> > tomca...@yaNOSPAMhoo.com wrote:
> > > Alasdair Baxter <l...@london.com> wrote:
> > >> On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 02:17:23 -0000, "John Dean"
> > >> <john...@frag.lineone.net> wrote:
> > >
> > >>> << 1850 Congress. Globe App. 4 Mar. 324/3 There should be no
> > >>> skulking or dodging+every man should 'face the music'.>>
> > >
> > >> Sorry, but this doesn't explain the derivation of the expression. It
> > >> just shows that it was used in 1850.
> > >
> I just checked RHHDAS, which has a long entry.
>
> First is the definition "to face hardship or danger," with seven
> citations from 1850 to 1900. The first is the same as the one in the
> OED. I notice that the quotes do not seem at all to be military in
> nature -- although the three from 1861-4 are about army life, as you
> might imagine.
>
> Second is the definition "to face the consequences," marked "now
> Standard English," with citations from 1862 to 1991.
>
> Origin still a mystery.
ProQuest has slightly earlier citations on APS Online, a database of
18th- and 19th-century American periodicals. The three earliest, from
the abolitionist newspaper "The National Era", all relate to Congress:
ITEMS.
National Era. Washington: Jul 13, 1848.
Vol. II, No. 80, p. 111
Mr. FOOTE--As the Senator from New Hampshire is an aspirant
himself, what does he think a candidate ought to do?
Mr. HALE--(with promptitude and humor) Why, stand up and
face the music.
[John P. Hale was the first abolitionist senator and ran
for president in 1848 as a candidate of the Liberty Party.
Hale was criticizing Lewis Cass, who had resigned from the
Senate to run for president on the Democratic ticket.]
THE COMPOSITION OF THE NEXT CONGRESS.
National Era. Washington: Mar 22, 1849.
Vol. III, No. 12, p. 46
Caleb Smith preferred not to "face the music" in his
District, having disappointed the hopes of his constituents.
CONGRESS.
National Era. Washington: Dec 20, 1849.
Vol. III, No. 51, p. 102
[Sen. Root:] They could not get out of it. No; they must
face the music-- God help them!
The last quote is taken from the Congressional Globe, the precursor to
the Congressional Record (also the source of the 1850 OED cite), online
at <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwcg.html>. The surrounding text
for Sen. Root's quote is here (first full paragraph of second column):
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llcg&fileName=022/llcg022.db&recNum=113
ProQuest has many cites for "face the music" through the 1850s in APS
periodicals and the New York Times (searchable from 1851), a surprising
number of which appear in quotes from members of Congress and other
politicians. None of this helps explain the origins of the phrase,
though perhaps antebellum politicians would have been more likely to
pick up on a phrase from military circles than from musical theater!
Richard Maurer
I wonder if any of the learned contributors to this group can tell me
where the phrase "Face the Music" comes from?
How about this gruesome scenario:
A prisoner is marched to a spot, blindfolded,
given a last cigarette or whatever;
he hears some drums and perhaps a bugle,
and is told to stand up straight and face the music ...
-- ---------------------------------------------
Richard Maurer To reply, remove half
Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Charles Riggs
<am...@sonic.net> wrote:
>Alasdair Baxter wrote:
>
>[...]
>
>> "It's not what you say that matters but how you say it.
>> It's not what you do that matters but how you do it"
>
>It's not what you know but whom you blow."
I've never heard it. A common jailbird expression, is it?
--
Charles Riggs
Email address: chriggs|at|eircom|dot|net
Donna Richoux
[snip]
> ProQuest has slightly earlier citations on APS Online, a database of
> 18th- and 19th-century American periodicals. The three earliest, from
> the abolitionist newspaper "The National Era", all relate to Congress:
>
> ITEMS.
> National Era. Washington: Jul 13, 1848.
> Vol. II, No. 80, p. 111
> Mr. FOOTE--As the Senator from New Hampshire is an aspirant
> himself, what does he think a candidate ought to do?
> Mr. HALE--(with promptitude and humor) Why, stand up and
> face the music.
> [John P. Hale was the first abolitionist senator and ran
> for president in 1848 as a candidate of the Liberty Party.
> Hale was criticizing Lewis Cass, who had resigned from the
> Senate to run for president on the Democratic ticket.]
>
> THE COMPOSITION OF THE NEXT CONGRESS.
> National Era. Washington: Mar 22, 1849.
> Vol. III, No. 12, p. 46
> Caleb Smith preferred not to "face the music" in his
> District, having disappointed the hopes of his constituents.
[snip more good stuff]
>
> ProQuest has many cites for "face the music" through the 1850s in APS
> periodicals and the New York Times (searchable from 1851), a surprising
> number of which appear in quotes from members of Congress and other
> politicians. None of this helps explain the origins of the phrase,
> though perhaps antebellum politicians would have been more likely to
> pick up on a phrase from military circles than from musical theater!
They would have gone to balls and dances, though.
So often military or army slang stays within that circle long enough to
be identified as such. This is popping into the record without *any*
military association in its use. It's not even likely that many 1840s
politicians were veterans.
What I can't help noticing is that the 1840s were famous for being the
time of the Minstrel craze. Songs like "Pop Goes the Weasel" and "Jump
Jim Crow" were written and swept the nation and across the Atlantic to
England, too. It was practically the birth of modern popular music, with
its professional songwriters and performers. If, for example, "face the
music" had been a line from one of those songs, or said in the
performances...
Look at that line:
> Mr. HALE--(with promptitude and humor) Why, stand up and
> face the music.
It's like he's saying a well-known punchline, or a refrain from a comic
song. I can almost hear him sing it -- "Stand UP and FACE the MU-sic!"
But then, like my contra-dancing theory, wouldn't the documentation have
been there all along, so the lexicographers would already have known
this...
Ben Zimmer
True. Just to muddy the waters further, here are two more early cites,
one of which seems to support a military explanation, while the other
suggests a connection to the performing arts:
BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA.
The Southern Quarterly Review. New Orleans: Jan 1851.
Vol. 3, Iss. 5; p. 146
Before these dispositions were completed, the Mexicans
made their appearance - halted beyond the range of our
fire - perceived our resolution to face the music of
war - and prepared at once for the conflict.
A WEEK IN ROOSLERDOM
New York Daily Times: Jun 2, 1854. p. 3
The miserable resolutions concerning temperance
occasioned more discussion, a portion of the
Convention fearing to face the music; but the
programme had been arranged and must be performed.
So perhaps even in the 1850s there were different understandings of
where the phrase originated.
One thing I find odd about the earliest known cites is that so many turn
up in abolitionist writings. Here's another example, from _The Fugitive
Slave Bill_ by Lewis Tappan (1850):
http://medicolegal.tripod.com/tappan1850.htm
There were, it seems, 50 who were absent, or who dodged
the question. Why did any one flee from the House to
save himself from saying aye or no? Evidently because
he feared to "face the music," or, in other words, he
was afraid to meet his constituents if he voted aye,
and trembled lest his party would lose their Southern
wing, if he voted nay.
Perhaps this became a favored turn of phrase of the abolitionists
(popularized by John P. Hale in the 1848 Senate exchange?) when
chastising the cowardice of their opponents.
Donna Richoux
[snip, and restoring the first known citation given earlier:]
>> ITEMS.
>> National Era. Washington: Jul 13, 1848.
>> Vol. II, No. 80, p. 111
>> Mr. FOOTE--As the Senator from New Hampshire is an aspirant
>> himself, what does he think a candidate ought to do?
>> Mr. HALE--(with promptitude and humor) Why, stand up and
>> face the music.
>> [John P. Hale was the first abolitionist senator and ran
>> for president in 1848 as a candidate of the Liberty Party.
>> Hale was criticizing Lewis Cass, who had resigned from the
>> Senate to run for president on the Democratic ticket.]
>
> One thing I find odd about the earliest known cites is that so many turn
> up in abolitionist writings. Here's another example, from _The Fugitive
> Slave Bill_ by Lewis Tappan (1850):
>
> http://medicolegal.tripod.com/tappan1850.htm
> There were, it seems, 50 who were absent, or who dodged
> the question. Why did any one flee from the House to
> save himself from saying aye or no? Evidently because
> he feared to "face the music," or, in other words, he
> was afraid to meet his constituents if he voted aye,
> and trembled lest his party would lose their Southern
> wing, if he voted nay.
>
> Perhaps this became a favored turn of phrase of the abolitionists
> (popularized by John P. Hale in the 1848 Senate exchange?) when
> chastising the cowardice of their opponents.
Some facts that leap to mind:
Abolition was a hot topic of that day, so it would have been spoken of
and written about a great deal.
Abolition was particularly favored in New England.
John P. Hale was from New Hampshire.
New Hampshire -- sorry to keep dragging this in -- has long been the
center of New England contra dance. E.g., Nelson, NH kept its dance
series going for decades and decades when no one else did. People all
over New England held dances in their town halls and other halls...
Approximate dates? Tony Parkes says in _Contra Dance Calling_ that
contra and square dancing came with the English settlers and was enjoyed
until a decline in popularity began around 1850.
I'm going to ask my friends over at rec.folk-dancing whether they
noticed the specific phrase "face the music" in historical material.
Probably not, but it doesn't hurt to try.
Ben Zimmer
> >
> > Perhaps this became a favored turn of phrase of the abolitionists
> > (popularized by John P. Hale in the 1848 Senate exchange?) when
> > chastising the cowardice of their opponents.
>
> Some facts that leap to mind:
>
> Abolition was a hot topic of that day, so it would have been spoken of
> and written about a great deal.
>
> Abolition was particularly favored in New England.
>
> John P. Hale was from New Hampshire.
>
> New Hampshire -- sorry to keep dragging this in -- has long been the
> center of New England contra dance. E.g., Nelson, NH kept its dance
> series going for decades and decades when no one else did. People all
> over New England held dances in their town halls and other halls...
> Approximate dates? Tony Parkes says in _Contra Dance Calling_ that
> contra and square dancing came with the English settlers and was enjoyed
> until a decline in popularity began around 1850.
>
> I'm going to ask my friends over at rec.folk-dancing whether they
> noticed the specific phrase "face the music" in historical material.
> Probably not, but it doesn't hurt to try.
Interesting theory... I looked for cites from the antebellum era that
might somehow connect the phrase to dancing and found the following
(describing a reception held at the White House):
WASHINGTON CHAT.
New York Daily Times: Jan 30, 1857. p. 2
The belles, fatigued with the last night's "hop" at the
National, refused to "face the music" in the East room.
That's all I can find, though. Also, beyond the Hale quote, I don't see
anything that might localize "face the music" to New England, let alone
New Hampshire. It was being used in other parts of the country early
on, as in the 1851 cite from the New Orleans-based Southern Quarterly
Review's "Battle of Buena Vista" quoted upthread.
By the way, you can find many texts (including "Battle of Buena Vista")
on a publicly accessible database of 19th-century US sources, Univ. of
Michigan's "Making of America" <http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moagrp/>.
As with ProQuest/APS, most of the early MoA cites for "face the music"
have something to do with antebellum political oratory. Here's another
example related to abolitionists:
[Christian pamphlets. Vol.1]
The 13th Annual Report of the American and
Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, 1853
The New-York Tribune thus reports the speech of this
gentleman: "Rev. Mr. McLain, of Mississippi, marched
up to the mark and 'faced the music' without winking."
(Hmm, since many of the abolitionists were clergymen, could the
expression have something to do with church music or heavenly choirs?)
MoA also has the text of Maximilian Schele De Vere's _Americanisms_
(1872), cited by the OED. Here is the full entry for "face the music":
Face the music, to, a slang phrase, derived, according
to J. F. Cooper, from the stage, and used by actors in
the green-room, when they are nervously preparing to go
on the boards and literally face the music. Another
explanation traces it back to militia musters, where
every man is expected to appear fully equipped and
armed, when in rank and file, facing the music. The
meaning of the phrase is, generally, to show one's hand,
though it is often used as a summons to pay the bill.
"Rabelais' unpleasant 'quarter' is by our more
picturesque people called facing the music."
(J. F. Cooper.)
It would be interesting to track down the James Fenimore Cooper quote
(which the OED dates "a1851", presumably because Cooper died in 1851).
Cooper's allusion to Rabelais is explained in the 1919 edition of
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations:
http://www.bartleby.com/100/231.2.html
The time of paying a shot in a tavern among good fellows,
or Pantagruelists, is still called in France a "quart
d'heure de Rabelais," — that is, Rabelais's quarter of
an hour, when a man is uneasy or melancholy. — Life of
Rabelais (Bohn's edition), p. 13.
John Dean
> an hour, when a man is uneasy or melancholy. - Life of
> Rabelais (Bohn's edition), p. 13.
Allow me to throw a couple pinkish herrings (or not) into the barrel where
they might be shot.
1. The 'whistle-stop' political campaign is, presumably, at least as old as
the railways and, possibly, older. Politicians in the US may have visited
the electorate by horseback or wagon. In all the newsreel footage I have
seen of railroad whistle-stops, there is always a band playing as the train
pulls in. As Edmund Morris records in Theodore rex of TR's 1903 Western Tour
:
''At whistle-stops, always the local dignitaries .... silver cornets playing
'Hail to the Chief' ...''
Imagine a politician too tired, or too much beleaguered by the Press, to
come out onto the observation platform. He will not 'face the music' which
is a necessary preliminary to addressing the crowd.
2. Instead of looking for 'face the music', why not look for a meaning of
'music' which would make it clear why there was something special about
'facing' it?
From OED on 'music' I take the following cites:
1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 28 Clashing of swords was then daily musicke in
every street. 1653 Walton Angler i. 12 What music doth a pack of dogs then
make. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 225 With that another Volley
of great and small Shot: When this Musick had lasted about an Hour, they
[etc.].
So 'music' has an honourable tradition as a term for swordplay, hunting dogs
and musketry or cannonfire. Given the tendency of authors of the time to
hyperbole, it wouldn't surprise me if an enterprising ferret were to dig up
further examples from the Napoleonic Wars of soldiers writing in their
memoirs of the 'music' of the infantry volley, or the Naval Captains in
Blackwood's Magazine reporting on the 'music' of the enemy's broadside.
Evan Kirshenbaum
> It's not what you know but whom you blow."
Not to question your research, but do you actually have a citation
from somebody besides yourself who used "whom"?
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |It is a popular delusion that the
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |government wastes vast amounts of
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |money through inefficiency and sloth.
|Enormous effort and elaborate
kirsh...@hpl.hp.com |planning are required to waste this
(650)857-7572 |much money
| P.J. O'Rourke
http://www.kirshenbaum.net/
Skitt
> "Reinhold (Rey) Aman" writes:
>> It's not what you know but whom you blow."
>
> Not to question your research, but do you actually have a citation
> from somebody besides yourself who used "whom"?
Check Google. They are there.
--
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/
R J Valentine
} "Reinhold (Rey) Aman" <am...@sonic.net> writes:
}
}> It's not what you know but whom you blow."
}
} Not to question your research, but do you actually have a citation
} from somebody besides yourself who used "whom"?
I think it was a parody of the thing he quoted.
--
R. J. Valentine <mailto:sh...@wicked.smart.net>
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
> Reinhold (Rey) Aman writes:
> > "It's not what you know but whom you blow."
> Not to question your research, but do you actually have a
> citation from somebody besides yourself who used "whom"?
I haven't researched this common phrase and its more frequent variant,
"It's not who[m] you know but who[m] you blow." Normally, one hears
these phrases as comments about someone who undeservedly got a job,
apartment, etc.
I've heard and read them only with "who," but it goes against my grain
to use the illiterate "who" and thus I always change it to "whom"
(unless I actually cite/quote someone).
To me, "who" *is* illiterate, and I don't care if I'm one of the few
fuddy-duddies left who use "whom" when grammar demands it. "Who do you
trust?" -- over my dead lips.
--
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
A real careful writer
Charles Riggs
<kirsh...@hpl.hp.com> wrote:
>"Reinhold (Rey) Aman" <am...@sonic.net> writes:
>
>> It's not what you know but whom you blow."
>
>Not to question your research, but do you actually have a citation
>from somebody besides yourself who used "whom"?
Not being a native speaker, he keeps insisting "whom" is the only
correct usage. He is wrong on that as he is wrong on so many other
things. On the other hand, his vocabulary of hate-words, racial slurs,
and obscenities in general is most excellent, in keeping with his
degraded character and the thoughts in his twisted mind.
Simon R. Hughes
"Whom" *is* the only correct usage -- historically and
grammatically. "Who" is taking over by popular vote, though. One
day in the not-too-distant-linguistic-future, "whom" will be
considered a quaint remnant of the past.
--
Simon R. Hughes
Donna Richoux
> Donna Richoux wrote:
> >
> > I'm going to ask my friends over at rec.folk-dancing whether they
> > noticed the specific phrase "face the music" in historical material.
> > Probably not, but it doesn't hurt to try.
>
> Interesting theory... I looked for cites from the antebellum era that
> might somehow connect the phrase to dancing and found the following
> (describing a reception held at the White House):
>
> WASHINGTON CHAT.
> New York Daily Times: Jan 30, 1857. p. 2
> The belles, fatigued with the last night's "hop" at the
> National, refused to "face the music" in the East room.
>
> That's all I can find, though. Also, beyond the Hale quote, I don't see
> anything that might localize "face the music" to New England, let alone
> New Hampshire. It was being used in other parts of the country early
> on, as in the 1851 cite from the New Orleans-based Southern Quarterly
> Review's "Battle of Buena Vista" quoted upthread.
I didn't get any encouraging words from the historical dance people, so
I'll have to set this theory aside.
By the way, I didn't really explain it before, but the location of the
music does have a defining function in the dance. Contra dance lines go
"up and down" the hall, and "up" is defined to be "toward the music."
You literally have to notice where the band is to know which way to go.
The usual call (now) is "Face up" or "Face up the hall".
>
> By the way, you can find many texts (including "Battle of Buena Vista")
> on a publicly accessible database of 19th-century US sources, Univ. of
> Michigan's "Making of America" <http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moagrp/>.
Noted, thanks.
>
> MoA also has the text of Maximilian Schele De Vere's _Americanisms_
> (1872), cited by the OED. Here is the full entry for "face the music":
>
> Face the music, to, a slang phrase, derived, according
> to J. F. Cooper, from the stage, and used by actors in
> the green-room, when they are nervously preparing to go
> on the boards and literally face the music. Another
> explanation traces it back to militia musters, where
> every man is expected to appear fully equipped and
> armed, when in rank and file, facing the music. The
> meaning of the phrase is, generally, to show one's hand,
> though it is often used as a summons to pay the bill.
> "Rabelais' unpleasant 'quarter' is by our more
> picturesque people called facing the music."
> (J. F. Cooper.)
>
> It would be interesting to track down the James Fenimore Cooper quote
> (which the OED dates "a1851", presumably because Cooper died in 1851).
> Cooper's allusion to Rabelais is explained in the 1919 edition of
> Bartlett's Familiar Quotations:
>
> http://www.bartleby.com/100/231.2.html
> The time of paying a shot in a tavern among good fellows,
> or Pantagruelists, is still called in France a "quart
> d'heure de Rabelais," — that is, Rabelais's quarter of
> an hour, when a man is uneasy or melancholy. — Life of
> Rabelais (Bohn's edition), p. 13.
One of the folk-dance callers said he found this:
In the book "American Sayings" edited by Henry F, Woods 1949
Facing the music 1785
Stage slang has supplied a popular phrase to express the ordeal of
meeting an embarrassing situation. An actor in the wings awaiting
his cue to go before the audience was said, in actors' parlance, to
be about to face the music, that is, the orchestra in the pit
immediately below the sage.
1785 is quite a bit before anything else we've found.
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
> Evan Kirshenbaum wrote:
> >Reinhold (Rey) Aman writes:
> >> It's not what you know but whom you blow."
> >Not to question your research, but do you actually have a
> >citation from somebody besides yourself who used "whom"?
> Not being a native speaker,
... but having demonstrated a command of English far superior
to native Mr. Hamburger-Helper Riggs.
> he keeps insisting "whom" is the only correct usage. He is
> wrong on that as he is wrong on so many other things.
Could AUEers be treated to a list of, say, just five items about which
I'm wrong concerning your mother tongue, dipshit?
> [...] in keeping with his degraded character
> and the thoughts in his twisted mind.
Nutheimer Riggs is projecting again & still avoiding the mirror.
--
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
R J Valentine
I guess I was wrong. I thought it was a parody. The original statement
is: "It's not _what_ [it is that] you know, but _who_ [it is that] you
know." The snappy rejoinder to that is: "It's not who [it is that] you
_know_, but who [it is that] you _blow_." Substituting "whom" for any of
the who's would be ungrammatical. The bracketed text is usually omitted.
The two statements are never conflated except in jest or ignorance.
--
R. J. Valentine <mailto:ar...@wicked.smart.net>
Cite this.
Simon R. Hughes
"It's not {what/ that which} you know, it's her (who) you know"
This analysis is simpler, thus, thanks to Occam, a better one.
Ignorance may be defined as seeing only one side of a many-sided
issue.
--
Simon R. Hughes
<!-- A little more knowledgeable than he was yesterday -->