[78-L] Liberace--was: Well EXCUUUUUUSE MEEEEE!!! ^

[David Lennick]

CRY ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-cry1.htm

Q From Eva Gustafsson, Sweden: In Sweden you used to say cry all the way to the 
bank when you did something bad but, but still you made some money from it as a 
consolation. I have noticed that people are now using the English expression 
translated to Swedish. What does the English expression mean?

A The English phrase means pretty much what you’ve said: that you are making 
money undeservedly at the expense of others; another version is laugh all the 
way to the bank. It often refers to a sportsman who loses a match, or to a 
show-business person who gives a poor performance, but who still cynically 
collects a thumping fee.

The phrase is often credited to that flamboyant and camp American pianist 
Liberace, he of the candelabra, extraordinary costumes and piano-shaped 
swimming pool. It became a catchphrase for him and he is often quoted as 
originating it. The first four examples in the Oxford English Dictionary all 
refer to him, the first being from the Daily Mirror of 26 September 1956: “On 
the occasion in New York at a concert in Madison Square Garden when he had the 
greatest reception of his life and the critics slayed him mercilessly, Liberace 
said: ‘The take was terrific but the critics killed me. My brother George cried 
all the way to the bank.’ ” Later, he was quoted as saying “Remember that bank 
I cried all the way to? I bought it.”

Sadly, for what survives of Liberace’s reputation, it looks very much as though 
he borrowed an existing expression. It appeared, to give one example, in the 
Waterloo Daily Courier of Iowa on 3 September 1946: “Eddie Walker perhaps is 
the wealthiest fight manager in the game ... The other night when his man 
Belloise lost, Eddie had the miseries ... He felt so terrible, he cried all the 
way to the bank!”

dl

On 9/18/2010 12:06 AM, David Breneman wrote:
> --- On Fri, 9/17/10, Steven C. Barr<stevenc at interlinks.net>  wrote:
>
>> The bitter reality is that Liberace was a couple of decades
>> shy of the "Gay Liberation Era?!" OTOH, he may well have
>> been fully aware of that  situation...
>> and happily merchandised his "outrageous" personality for
>> all it might be worth...?!
>
> Actually...?!  The real fact is that Liberace coined one of
> the most quoted...?!  But not attributed...?!  Sayings in
> pop culture way back in the 60s...?!  When asked if it hurt
> his feelings to be accused of being a homosexual...?!
> He replied, "Yes!  And I cry all the way to the bank!"
> ("...?!" withheld for the sake of attribution accuracy.)
>
>   ...?!
>
>