Wouldn't I? Show your hand, or forfeit your money. Oh, you wouldn't rob a friend out of his hard earnings, would you? Even the dullest of the chivalry perceived that this was a plain case of " put up, or shut up." They were wise and did the latter.Īn even earlier occurrence is in an 1877 translation of Meilhac & Halevy, The Widow: A Comedy in Three Acts (1877): There wasn't any way to misunderstand the language of that challenge. I meant what I said I could do what I promised. as an invitation to wager, but now more in anger as a command to shut up.īut the phrase appears earlier still in Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889): 2 Fig., prove your assertion by some definite action or stop making the assertion. Put up or shut up 1 Lit., back up your opinion with a money wager or be silent about it. The entry for "put up or shut up" in Harold Wentworth & Stuart Flexner, Dictionary of American Slang (1960) identifies a specific instance of the phrase from 1894: Both uses probably dating from the 19th century. In America, this translates as 'put up your money (as though for a bet)' but in Britain, 'put up your fists (as though for a fight)'. Put up or shut up! 'Either make good your argument or stop talking about it'. Nigel Rees, A Word in Your Shell-like (2004) suggests that the phrase “put up or shut up” may mean different things in the United States and in the UK: After that, it's used referring to a bet: put up your money to take on the bet or shut up. The next I found is also a boxing challenge in The Montana Post, November 09, 1867. The Montana Post, J(Virginia City, Montana Territory ) 1867 If Reilley concluded to accept my proposition, he will find two hundred dollars deposited at the Fountain Restaurant, with John Cornell and Billy Nuttall, California Exchange, to be put up as a forfeit. The earliest I found in the Chronicling America archive from 1865 makes the meaning clear: Morrissey's slang terms are beneath my notice, as I prefer to conduct the matter in a gentlemanly and straightforward manner."Ĭambridge Chronicle, Volume XIII, Number 32, 7 August 1858 1865 The above proposition is certainly a fair one, and no man can object to it.- Now, if he means business, let him put up, or shut up, for this is the last communication that will come from me in regard to this fellow."Īnd the other ruffian, in his reply, says that he has resigned a place under government in order to accept the challenge, and concludes : "There has always been some objections, however, to every proposition I have made some little quibble that this man Heenan has raised, with how much courage and manliness I leave your readers to judge. Their letters are published in Porter's Spirit of the Times, where it is openly announced that they are to fight in Canada on the 20th of October, for $2,500 a side, the exact place to be named by the editor of "a city paper." Morrissey, who gave the challenge, closes his letter as follows: The Brutality of the Nineteenth Century-Somewhat after the manner of duelling correspondence, two pugilists, John Morrissey and John Heenan, the latter known as the "Benicia Hoy," have been negotiating for a fight. Here it is printed in another newspaper with more context: 1858ġ858 Marysville (Ohio) Tribune (Electronic text) 21 July, Now, if he means business, let him put up, or shut up, for this is the last communication that will come from me in regard to this fellow. The phrase comes from boxing, when one fighter would challenge another and require him to put up a stake for a match, or stop his fighting words.
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