Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion

I wonder if that's how they came up with the term 'punchline'.

Jackie wrote: "I wonder if that's how they came up with the term 'punchline'."

Jackie, I googled and found the following:
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" ...the first recorded usages [of "punchline or punch line] — a century ago — are from the US. The Oxford English Dictionary’s first example is from the Marion Star of Ohio in 1916, but the idea was around earlier:

The play was ‘The Power of Politics’ and it had a punch in every line.
Racine Journal-News (Wisconsin), 28 Feb. 1912.

It is true that ballads are deliberately written with all sorts of mathematical calculation as to “punch lines” and similar technical detail. But for all that success remains an inexplicable incident.
The New York Times, 7 Sep. 1913.

These confirm that it came out of show business and that the first senses were of delivering lines of a play or song to the greatest possible effect — punching them — or of creating lines to affect the hearer powerfully. Later it became applied in particular to the last line of a story that contains the point or joke. There can be no doubt that the figurative punches are from fists, the shock of receiving a blow being equated with the visceral response to hearing an unexpected or felicitous line.

("Punch" magazine, by the way, took its name from the puppet companion to Judy, which was borrowed from a buffoonish stock character in the Italian commedia dell’arte, usually known as Punchinello. No connection at all with punches of the physical sort.)

ABOVE IS FROM: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-p...

How very interesting! I love learning the origins of words or phrases.

Here's my FB quote of the day:
"What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist."
~Salman Rushdie ~

Jackie wrote: "How very interesting! I love learning the origins of words or phrases."

Me too!

Jackie wrote: "Here's my FB quote of the day:
"What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist." ~Salman Rushdie ~"

Good one, Jackie.
Here's a related quote:

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
-Voltaire

today's FB QoD:
"People often claim to hunger for truth, but seldom like the taste when it's served up."
~ George R R Martin ~ from A Clash of Kings

Jackie wrote: "today's FB QoD:
"People often claim to hunger for truth, but seldom like the taste when it's served up." ~ George R R Martin ~ from A Clash of Kings"

Good one, Jackie. I'm saving your quotes to my collection.

Related quote: "You can't handle the truth!" -line from movie, "A Few Good Men"

(Voted the twenty-ninth greatest American film quote of all time) -Wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Few_Go...

(Voted most memorable quote ever)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/fi...

TOP HUNDRED MOVIE QUOTES: http://www.afi.com/100years/quotes.aspx
[See chart with list.)

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JOKE:
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other: "Does this taste funny to you?"
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Sorry, I couldn't resist that one. :)

Lol, good one!

One of the things that makes George R R Martin such a great writer is all his magnificent quotes. I have lots from his A Song Of Ice And Fire series.

Here's a few of my favorite ones:
" A reader lives a thousand lives," said Jojen, "the man who never reads lives only one." ( A Dance with Dragons)

"A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it's to keep it's edge." (Tyrion from A Game of Thrones)

"Every man must die, Jon Snow. But first he must live" (A Storm of Swords)

Bran thought about it, "Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?" "That is the only time a man can be brave", his father told him. (Bran to Ned, A Game of Thrones)

“There is only one god and his name is Death. And there is only one thing we say to Death: “Not today.”
(Syrio to Arya, A Game of Thrones)

Jackie wrote: "Lol, good one! One of the things that makes George R R Martin such a great writer is all his magnificent quotes. I have lots from his A Song Of Ice And Fire series. Here's a few of my favorit..."

Excellent choices, Jackie! You've really been collecting! I love writers who are philosophical!

The following one from your list really hits home with me:
"Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?" "That is the only time a man can be brave."

Related quotes:

"Courage is fear holding on a minute longer." -General George Smith Patton

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear."
---Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson, Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar

It's a simple quote but profound. When does courage and bravery matter, when can it be tested? Only when we're afraid.

Jackie wrote: "It's a simple quote but profound. When does courage and bravery matter, when can it be tested? Only when we're afraid."

Here's a great compilation from a friend at alt.quotations:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The thing I fear most is fear.
--Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-1592)
_Essais_ (Essays) [1580] bk. 1, ch. 18.

Nothing is to be feared but fear.
--Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
"Essex Device" [c. 1592],
as quoted in Edwin Reed _Bacon and Shake-speare Parallelisms_, p. 49 [1902].

Nothing is so much to be feared as fear.
--Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
_Journal_ [1906] "September 27, 1851"

...the only thing we have to fear is fear itself ...
--Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945)
"First Inaugural Address" [4 March 1933].
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Here's a quote which was an insight for me because I wondered how people had the courage to take great steps and to do great things.

"A great part of courage is the courage of having done the thing before."
---Ralph Waldo Emerson

In other words, practice and experience enable us to do things we thought we could never do.

RE: PRACTICE

"You have to be bad before you're good." -Hal Kanter quoting George Burns

[I heard this when listening to the "TV Archive" interview, part 2]:
http://www.emmytvlegends.org/intervie...

Today's:

"Utopias are boring. Dystopias, on the other hand, are interesting."
~ Robert Silverberg ~

Jackie wrote: "Today's:
"Utopias are boring. Dystopias, on the other hand, are interesting." ~ Robert Silverberg ~"

Ya got me there, Jackie! :)
Best I can do as a follow-up is:

"The chief product of an automated society is a widespread and deepening sense of boredom."
---Cyril Parkinson

This is Goodreads QoD: "Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind."
~ Virginia Woolf ~

"War is hell" Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman.
http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/sherma...

And the more cruel it is the faster it is over. This is something our Washington parasites refuse to remember, or more likely, are afraid to enforce. Some atrocity might be credited to THEM. Oh, the horror! Further, THEIR wars are spent in comfort making money for themselves and their MONEYED constituents (note I didn't include those constituents that are providing the cannon fodder) They make up "rules of engagement" that force our troops of make war with one hand tied behind their backs. The whole damn world hates us, especially the Arab world, why even try to win hearts and minds? Instead use every technological advantage we possess to the max to instill fear and dread. I would like to see those Washington fat cats 'embedded' with our troops if they send them to war, just like the news guys are now. I bet that would head off a few of our casual wars.

“Hell is—other people!”
Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit

I thought this a pleaaant quote on a cold winter's day: "The Light is what guides you home; the warmth is what keeps you there," by Ellie Rodriguiz

Jackie wrote: "“Hell is—other people!”
Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit"

That's a good one, Jackie!

"Hell, Madame, is to love no longer."
---Georges Bernanos, The Diary of a Country Priest: A Novel

Nina wrote: "I thought this a pleaaant quote on a cold winter's day: "The Light is what guides you home; the warmth is what keeps you there," by Ellie Rodriguiz"

Yes, Nina, WARMTH! I wish I could get some! It's freezing here. I can't get warm.

In honor of Wuthering Heights...and it describes me well:

“I am now quite cured of seeking pleasure in society, be it country or town. A sensible man ought to find sufficient company in himself.”
Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

I just saw a wonderful George Carlin quote, "Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over your body."

Joy H. wrote: "Nina wrote: "I thought this a pleaaant quote on a cold winter's day: "The Light is what guides you home; the warmth is what keeps you there," by Ellie Rodriguiz"

Yes, Nina, WARMTH! I wish I could ..."Sorry, wish we could exchange; our sixty degrees for your moisture.

HeeHee! Good Ole George!

My father used to say, "Money can't buy you happiness, but neither can poverty." He was right about that.

I like you're father's saying, Jackie. So true!

It is. And he was funny when he'd say it. He had a lot of great sayings, I wish I could remember them all. They pop up now and then.

Jackie wrote: "In honor of Wuthering Heights...and it describes me well: “I am now quite cured of seeking pleasure in society, be it country or town. A sensible man ought to find sufficient company in himself.” .."

"I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude." ---Henry David Thoreau

Jim wrote: "I just saw a wonderful George Carlin quote, "Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over your body.""

"You can't have everything. Where would you put it?" ---Steven Wright

Ouu, I love the Thoreau quote, Joy!

Jackie wrote: "... My father used to say, "Money can't buy you happiness, but neither can poverty." He was right about that."

"I never been in no situation where havin' money made it any worse." ---Clinton Jones

"There are few sorrows, however poignant, in which a good income is of no avail." ---Logan Pearsall Smith

Jackie wrote: "Ouu, I love the Thoreau quote, Joy!"

Jackie, I have loads of quotes about solitude in my collection. In fact I have a small book of quotations entitled: Solitude (1972).

“Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is the richness of self.” ---May Sarton

You should start writing down your father's quotes as you remember them, Jackie. I'd do the same with my mom's, but all I can remember is her's about injuries:
"It's a long way from your heart. You'll live."
;-)

Jim wrote: "You should start writing down your father's quotes as you remember them, Jackie. I'd do the same with my mom's, but all I can remember is her's about injuries: "It's a long way from your heart. You'll live."

Jim, your mom sound like a hearty-soul with a positive attitude and full of encouragement.

"Two-thirds of help is to give courage." ---Irish proverb

My mom had a lot of good sayings. I remember quite a few of them. One of them was: "You can't always have the best cut of the cake."

I have a category of quotes which I call: "Words of Encouragement".
See some of them below:
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"When I think of my past, I try to dwell on the good times, the happy moments, and not to be haunted by the bad. . . To me the gift of life is contained in the command, whatever happens: 'Don't let it get you. Just keep on going.' Thus, I try to think of the good that I have already experienced and what will still be coming."
---Rose Kennedy

"You will adapt." ---Star Trek Voyager

"Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."
---A. A. Milne

"Don't worry. It may never happen." ---source unknown
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MORE ON ENCOURAGEMENT:

"Flatter me and I may not believe you
Criticise me and I may not like you
Ignore me and I may not forgive you
Encourage me and I shall never forget you."
---William Arthur Ward

"Good stories are tales of struggle," Scot D. Yost

Weather today sixty eight degrees. Have to find summer clothes. Whee is spring?

Nina wrote: ""Good stories are tales of struggle," Scot D. Yost ..."

Good one, Nina!

"Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant." ---Horace

Enjoy that balmy weather!

Goodreads Quote of the Day
“Be reverent before the dawning day. Do not think of what will be in a year, or in ten years. Think of to-day.” Romain Rolland

Jackie wrote: "Goodreads Quote of the Day “Be reverent before the dawning day. Do not think of what will be in a year, or in ten years. Think of to-day.” Romain Rolland"

"Whatever you do, do cautiously, and look to the end."
"Quidquid agas, prudenter agas, et respice finem."
---Latin Anonymous, Gesta Romanorum, cap. 103

Sanskrit Proverb
from the front of the 24 Hours A Day book published by Hazelden

Look to this day,
For it is life,
The very life of life.
In its brief course lie all
The realities and verities of existence,
The bliss of growth,
The splendor of action,
The glory of power –

For yesterday is but a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision,
But today, well lived,
Makes every yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Look well, therefore, to this day.

That's a really nice poem, Jim.

Thanks. I like it. I heard an old guy named Scotty recite it one night on the date of his 50th year of sobriety. He used to play in Vaudeville as a magician. Wound up drinking & sleeping in alleys for years. Then he got sober & was a neighbor until he died about 20 years ago when he was in his upper 80's.

Jim wrote:
"Sanskrit Proverb from the front of the 24 Hours A Day book published by Hazelden
Look to this day,
For it is life,
The very life of life.
In its brief course lie all
The realities and verities of ..."

Jim, that is beautiful! I had heard it in part before this, but never saw it in its entirety before now. I will copy and save it.

"Live, live, live! Life's a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!" --Auntie Mame

It is a nice poem and nice thougts; but living each day as described doesn't necessarily make every yesterday a dream of happiness. Wish it did.

Nina wrote: "It is a nice poem and nice thougts; but living each day as described doesn't necessarily make every yesterday a dream of happiness. Wish it did."

Nina, the poem says:
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But today, well lived,
Makes every yesterday a dream of happiness
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So the idea is to try to make our time "well lived".

Maybe that's related to the saying: "Living well is the best revenge." lol

I like your last quote. I did understand the other poem and I do try to make each day, well lived; even today. But, some days things happen and no matter, it is not happy. As I said, wish it did. But, still a nice thought when it does.

Nina, I know what you mean about things happening. So much is beyond our control. I suppose we have to try to make the best of bad circumstances.