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Archiver > ABOUT-WORDS > 2004-06 > 1086136885
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Subject: Re: [ABOUT WORDS] Jack Robinson
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2004 20:41:28 EDT
"Where did the expression 'faster than you can say Jack Robinson' come
from... the baseball player Jackie Robinson?
Or something or someone from a very long time ago?"
No, the phrase predates Jackie Robinson; the expression appears in literature
as early as 1778. One 18th-century dictionary said Jack Robinson was "a very
volatile gentleman" who would drop by someone's house, then leave before he
was announced--i.e., he'd take off quicker than the servant could say "Jack
Robinson." There are other possible explanations, but this one is the earliest.
I found this on Profusion.com
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