I’m back to inviting readers to submit quotations whose origins they want me to try to trace, using my book The Yale Book of Quotations and my more recent researches.
(Photo: iStockphoto)
Sam asked:
“gravy train”
Sam has been patiently asking about this over and over again, so here goes. Jonathon Green, in his magnificent, just-published Green’s Dictionary of Slang, has as its earliest citation for “gravy train” the following:
1895 Connellsville (PA) Courier Nov. Johnston claims that Reuben Nelson and another tall negro were in New Haven the night of the escape and that they broke into the lockup. Johnston further states that the next day Nelson laughingly told him that the New Haven lockup was “a gravy train.”
Green also quotes J. L. Dillard, Lexicon of Black English, as suggesting “the image of a gambler who is in the ‘gravy’ and thus pursued by a ‘train’ of those who wish to benefit.” Green’s definition of “gravy train” is “a sinecure, a simple, substantially profitable situation from which one can benefit easily.”
Do any readers have any other quotations whose origins they would like me to attempt to trace?
and 
. You can also watch it on 
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
5 
0
I wonder a bit about when precisely the enhanced “gravy train with biscuit wheels” popped up. I’ve never really had the opportunity to use the phrase in speech, but whenever I hear it on a movie or TV show I can’t help but laugh. (Notable example: 1996′s “Kingpin”.)
“living the dream”–it’s an overused phrase now, but any idea what the earliest use of this phrase was?
I really like how the photo is of another form of gravy transportation: the gravy boat.
crack of dawn
break of day
Why have people accepted this sloppy slang phrase ‘whole nother’ instead of sayin ‘another’ or somthing more appropriate?
Well, since asking again and again worked for Sam…
I’m trying to find the source for
“Preach the gospel at all times – if necessary, use words”
It seems to be generally attributed to Francis of Assisi, but I can’t find reference.
John: The WikiQuote website discusses the quotation attributed to Francis of Assisi that interests you:
Preach the gospel at all times – if necessary, use words
The WikiQuote editors placed the saying in the “Disputed” section on the webpage dedicated to Francis of Assisi. Several citations for the saying are listed, and the earliest one is dated 1993. I have located and verified a cite in 1989:
Cite: 1989 August-September, World Vision, Page 16, [Free standing quotation in a box; Section compiled by Ginger Hope, Associate Editor World Vision], Volume 33, Number 4, World Vision International. (Google Books defective snippet; Verified visually thanks to librarian at Pitts Theology Library of Emory University)
Preach the gospel all the time – if necessary, use words. Francis of Assisi
(end excerpt)
Evidence suggests that this phrase is a recently crafted misattribution. If Francis of Assisi did say something like this the phraseology he used was different.
What is the origin of the slang expression “t-jones?”