[PW] Re: seeking original usage of "small potatoes" phrase

[Fred Acerri]

http://www.merrycoz.org/voices/bartlett/AMER12.HTM  Dictionary of 
Americanisms, by John Russell Bartlett (1848) (cited)

Fred A
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <schmidt at tarleton.edu>
To: "stumpers" <list at project-wombat.org>
Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 12:41 PM
Subject: [PW] seeking original usage of "small potatoes" phrase


>I am trying to verify if the following phrase originated with
> Mark Twain:
>
> "small potatoes, with few in the hill"
> Twain used it in a news article published August 3, 1864 -- online at:
> http://www.twainquotes.com/18640803d.html
>
>
> An undated/unsigned news clipping from the 1880s used the phrase:
> "Man that is born of woman is small potatoes and few in the hill."
> Online at:
> http://www.rootsweb.com/~srgp/clippings/tcobit31.htm
>
> Was this a common phrase already in use prior to 1864?
>
> Thanks for any leads,
> Barbara
>
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