Timeline for Origin of the phrase "Looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
10 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 13, 2012 at 2:19 | comment | added | StoneyB on hiatus | let us continue this discussion in chat | |
| Oct 13, 2012 at 2:03 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | @StoneyB: I don't know what "snippets" means in that context. All I see is an Amazon page inviting me to buy books about Reagan. I never had much time for the man when he was alive, and I'm not about to start bankrolling his hagiographers now. | |
| Oct 12, 2012 at 23:35 | comment | added | StoneyB on hiatus | @FumbleFingers The first and fourth snippets HERE pin the language down (sort of) and provide some documentation. | |
| Oct 12, 2012 at 23:11 | comment | added | StoneyB on hiatus | I'm eating my words. Push the sports usage back to THIS,1971 | |
| Oct 12, 2012 at 22:07 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | ...and... (I hate to have to correct my own comment) I now think it's more likely Reagan said "who has hair like Tarzan", but history rewrote his words to give something more "snappy". | |
| Oct 12, 2012 at 22:01 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | btw - The spelling of the name of Tarzan's chimpanzee Cheeta was one of three used during the long run of the Tarzan films (along with Cheetah and Cheta). | |
| Oct 12, 2012 at 21:59 | comment | added | StoneyB on hiatus | Nice research, but it needed no B-movie ghost to tell us this: Tarzan was all over the place in the 50s-60s, when 70s writers would have been growing up - not just the TV series (66-68) but constant reruns of the 30s-40s flicks on after-school TV. | |
| Oct 12, 2012 at 21:54 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | I'm not sure you could meaningfully call that a "source". Apart from anything else, I think it's pretty certain Reagan actually said dresses like Tarzan - intended as a derogatory reference to hippie clothing style. In context, doubtless walks like Jane was another derogatory reference to the supposedly "effeminate" hippie demeanour, and obviously we're expected to assume Cheetah the chimp "stinks". My point is Reagan's usage has none of the "difference between appearance and actual performance" of OP's example. This is just an unconnected reference to Tarzan, imho. | |
| Oct 12, 2012 at 21:37 | history | edited | coleopterist | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Oct 12, 2012 at 21:30 | history | answered | coleopterist | CC BY-SA 3.0 |