-Orion Shall Rise, CHAPTER FIFTEEN, p. 244.
"'In short,' Flandry concluded, 'as the proverb phrases it, he may be a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch.'"
-Poul Anderson, A Circus Of Hells IN Anderson, Young Flandry (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 193-365, AT CHAPTER TEN, p. 263.
We have all heard or read this saying and now we read it twice (at least) in Poul Anderson's works. We should reflect that some one person originally spoke this phrase, never suspecting that it would be repeated until it became part of the language. How many people can do this?
Googling confirms that the phrase, "pie in the sky," did indeed originate from a song, parodying a hymn, written and sung by Joe Hill who is himself the subject of another song.
Some people leave their marks in unexpected ways.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Off the top of my mind, I think it was President Franklin Roosevelt who coined that now famous say about sons of bitches. One of his advisors was complaining that one of the allies of the US was a SOB, with FDR replying that at least he was our SOB.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Well, being said by a President would certainly help to establish the phrase in popular speech.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And it was pithy, apt, and very realistic a line!
Ad astra! Sean
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