Here's Whom to Tell It to by Rob Kyff on Creators.com

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Here's Whom to Tell It to

Q: Years ago, during an argument or dispute, a popular expression was, "Tell it to Sweeney!" Who was "Sweeney"? Real or fictitious? A friendly bartender, or the "Dear Abby" of that time? — Ed Lukaszewski, New Britain, Conn.

A: "Tell it to Sweeney," originally meaning "tell it to someone naive or ignorant enough to believe it," is a variation of another popular phrase, "Tell it to the marines!"

Most sources believe the latter expression arose in the British navy. During the early 1800s, British sailors, salty sea dogs that they were, apparently regarded the marines as gullible greenhorns. So when someone spun a yarn so outrageous that only a naive person would believe it, the sailors would say, "Tell it to the marines!"

The phrase was in common use by 1820, even appearing in Lord Byron's poem "The Island" (1823) and Sir Walter Scott's novel "Redgauntlet" (1824). "Tell that to the marines — the sailors won't believe it."

Sometime during the late 1800s, the Brits concocted a new variation: "Tell it to Sweeney!" Why Sweeney? As the New Dictionary of American Slang explains it, "Sweeney is one of a group of surely mythical Irishmen, like Riley, Kelsey and Kilroy, whose names are used apparently for some humorous effect."

When both phrases jumped the pond to the U.S.

during the early 20th century, all heck broke loose. "Tell it to Sweeney," still bearing its original meaning, became a popular slang term among young people during the 1920s.

And by midcentury, cigar-chomping newspaper editors at big-city tabloids had given the phrase a new meaning: "Write stories in simple language that the average working stiff will understand." In fact, John Chapman's informal history of the New York Daily News, published in 1961, was titled "Tell It to Sweeney."

Meanwhile, "tell it to the marines" was experiencing an Americanization of its own. In the U.S., where Marines were regarded as tough, no-nonsense "leathernecks," "tell it to the marines" came to mean "just TRY to tell that to that realistic, hard-bitten bunch; they'll never believe it."

That's the meaning President Franklin D. Roosevelt had in mind when he responded laconically to Japan's unverified claims of victory during the early months of World War II, "Tell it to the Marines." Of course, he also meant that the U.S. Marines would play a key role in Japan's defeat.

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. To find out more about Rob Kyff and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.