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The show must go on

Etymology Online says of this phrase, "first attested 1941".Does OED2 have the actual cite? (Or an earlier cite.)

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Re: The show must go on

The first two cites in the OED are below. The second one indicates that it may be originally from circus folk: 1941 E. HOLDING Speak of Devil xvii. 281 The hotel business is like the theatre. No...

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Re: The show must go on

Eric Partridge in Dictionary of Catch Phrases:show must go on - the, has long been 'the traditional slogan... of the troupers'. Whatever misfortune or illness befalls, 'it is a point of honour not to...

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Re: The show must go on

According to Nigel Rees in "A word in your shell-like...":The phrase seems to have been originally been a circus saying, though no one seems able to turn up a written reference before 1930. "The Show...

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Re: The show must go on

IMDB has no reference to a 1937 film with that title.The 1941 cite in the OED appears to be the earliest that can be verified. (The Granville work that Partrididge/Beale cites is from the 1950s.)

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Re: The show must go on

Dave, the IMDB does list a 1937 movie title "The Show Goes On." Rees's reference? Obviously not a "must" see! www.imdb.com/title/tt0029556/

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Re: The show must go on

Thanks. I didn't think of searching without the "must." But I would say that without the "must," it is a very different phrase. Without further info on what the movie was about and to what the title...

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