Timeline for Meaning of "I never give a sucker an even break"
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
16 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jul 7, 2016 at 1:42 | comment | added | Hot Licks | It means when you stick a sucker in your mouth and bite on it, it never splits right down the middle. | |
| Jul 7, 2016 at 1:30 | answer | added | Sven Yargs | timeline score: 0 | |
| Jul 27, 2015 at 21:34 | history | protected | tchrist♦ | ||
| Jul 27, 2015 at 19:57 | comment | added | user130783 | I just want to point out that I am reading a transcript for a "story conference" for an MGM film, Huddle. This took place in 1931 and someone in it says, "He doesn't understand that sometimes you have to give a sucker an even break." | |
| Feb 4, 2015 at 22:07 | answer | added | Ajax Manatiso | timeline score: 2 | |
| Apr 4, 2013 at 15:31 | vote | accept | Derfder | ||
| Mar 27, 2013 at 0:34 | history | edited | RegDwigнt | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
deleted 2 characters in body
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| Mar 26, 2013 at 22:15 | answer | added | zwol | timeline score: 10 | |
| Mar 26, 2013 at 21:17 | review | Close votes | |||
| Mar 27, 2013 at 0:34 | |||||
| Mar 26, 2013 at 20:25 | answer | added | samuelesque | timeline score: 3 | |
| Mar 26, 2013 at 18:35 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | Actually, We who are about to Die: Prison as Seen by a Condemned Man (Pub 1935) says Advice to the Young: You know the saying, Never give a sucker an even break, so it obviously did predate the film. But I very much doubt it was particularly well-known back then. | |
| Mar 26, 2013 at 18:15 | comment | added | Kristina Lopez | Including the source of a quote (book title?) would have been helpful in your question since the quote from your book, as @FumbleFingers suggested, most likely came after the phrase became a cliché. | |
| Mar 26, 2013 at 18:05 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | @Derfder: The "catchphrase" probably didn't exist (if it did at all, it would have been virtually unknown) before the 1941 film that popularised it. Today it's a commonplace cliche, so you'll find slight variations such as your citation in all sorts of contexts. It just means [I] take advantage of fools. An even break means a fair chance. | |
| Mar 26, 2013 at 17:53 | comment | added | Derfder | You are wrong. It's from a book that I am reading right now. And it's exactly "I never give a sucker an even break." Btw. why do you think that your google search is the only "true" source and you are right? Thank you in advance. | |
| Mar 26, 2013 at 17:34 | comment | added | John Lawler | That's not the quotation. It's not a declarative sentence with "I" as subject; rather, it's an imperative: Never Give A Sucker An Even Break, which is the title of a movie by W.C. Fields. | |
| Mar 26, 2013 at 17:12 | history | asked | Derfder | CC BY-SA 3.0 |