Josh Billings
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Josh Billings | |
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Henry Wheeler Shaw (April 21, 1818 – October 14, 1885), better known by the pen name Josh Billings, was a 19th-century American humorist and lecturer.
Biography
Shaw was born in
Shaw attended
Shaw worked as a farmer, coal
Billings died in
Billings' daughter Grace Shaw Duff donated money for the building of Wilhenford Hospital in Augusta, Georgia, which opened in 1910. The name combined a syllable of her father's' name (Hen) with her husband's and son's.[13]
Legacy and attributed quotations
His saying, "In the whole history of the world there is but one thing that money can not buy... to wit the wag of a dog's tail" appears at the beginning of the Disney film Lady and the Tramp.[14]
The phrase, "Love is like measles... the later in life it occurs, the tougher it gets," was quoted as being Josh Billings' in Jan Karon's book, A Light in the Window.[15]
While the Squeaky Wheel aphorism was used in different forms before Billings, his poem, "The Kicker" brought the idiom into common usage of American language. The term "kicker" at the time in the 1800s was another term for a complainer. The poem is:
I hate to be a kicker,
I always long for peace,
But the wheel that does the squeaking,
Is the one that gets the grease.
"Consider the postage stamp, son. It secures success through its ability to stick to one thing till it gets there."
"Solitude is a good place to visit, but a poor place to stay."
"I honestly believe it iz better tew know nothing than tew know what ain't so."[16] Another variation: "It is better to know less than to know so much that ain't so."[17]
The Hong Kong movie Revenge: A Love Story ends with his quote "There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness."
"The old miser who has accumulated his millions, and sits down on them afterwards, reminds me of a fly that has fallen into a barrel of molasses".[18]
Although some news sources, such as Grammarist and numismatic sources cite Josh Billings as the origin for the term "joshing," this is incorrect. As noted by author Joshua D Glawson,[19] the term "joshing" has been documented as early as 1835,[20] as well as 1845,[21] 1875,[22] 1878,[23] 1887,[24] 1891,[25] and 1898[26] with no reference to Josh Billings or the character Josh Tatum. The name Josh was a part of the character choice by Henry Wheeler Shaw, to be an average man on the side of imbecilic.
References
- ^ (November 13, 1901). Obituary Notes, The New York Times, Retrieved December 1, 2010
- ^ ISBN 0-87395-407-6)
- ^ (June 6, 1923). Obituary, The New York Times, Retrieved December 1, 2010
- ^ (November 7, 1885). Josh Billing's Will, The New York Times, Retrieved December 1, 2010
- ^ Mark Twain's letters: 1869, Volume 3, p.410 (1992)(details of Billings' children)
- ^ Smith, Francis Shubael. Life and adventures of Josh Billings (1883)
- ^ Palmer, Charles J. History of Town of Lanesborough, p.164 (1905)
- ^ Biographical Introduction to The complete works of Josh Billings (Henry W. Shaw), p. xiv (1876)
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. 24, p. 813 (11th ed. 1911)
- ^ (May 4, 1956). Early Adventures of 'Josh Billings', Buckingham Post, Retrieved December 1, 2010
- ^ Birdsall, William Wilfred; Jones, Rufus Matthew (January 1, 1897). Famous Authors and the Best Literature of England and America ...: Together with Choice Selections from Their Writings ... American Book & Bible House.
- ^ Hamilton literary magazine, Volume 20, p. 108 (November 1885)
- ISBN 9780752409429.
- ^ Lady and the Tramp, Disney, 1955.
- ISBN 0-14-025454-4, pg 154.
- ^ (29 May 1869). "Humors of the Day", Harper's Weekly, p. 343, col. 3
- ^ Keyes, Ralph. The Quote Verifier. Macmillan, 2006. iBooks.
- ^ Sam Jones Revival Sermons. Fleming H. Revell Company. 1912. pp. 88–89.
- ^ "Coin-Based Trickery: Long-Used Tactics to Rip People Off". Money Metals Exchange. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ "Josh Definition & Meaning". Dictionary.com. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ "Definition of JOSHING". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ Harte, Bret (1875). The Overland Monthly. A. Roman & Company.
- ^ Hart, Fred H. (1878). The Sazerac Lying Club: A Nevada Book. H. Keller & Company.
- ^ Francis, Francis (1887). Saddle and Mocassin. Chapman and Hall.
- ^ Barrère, Albert; Leland, Charles Godfrey (1889). A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant: Embracing English, American, and Anglo-Indian Slang, Pidgin English, Tinkers' Jargon and Other Irregular Phraseology. Ballantyne Press.
- ^ Desmos of Delta Sigma Delta. Delta Sigma Delta. 1898.
External links
- Works by Henry W. Shaw at Project Gutenberg
- Works by Henry Wheeler Shaw at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Henry Wheeler Shaw at Internet Archive
- Works by or about Josh Billings at Internet Archive
- Works by Josh Billings at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Josh Billings at The Quotations Page
- The Great Josh Billings Runaground Triathlon
- Joshing - Origin & Meaning from Grammarist