What is the “It” the Greeks had a word for?

Almost everyone knows the saying “the Greeks had a word for it” (sometimes heard as “the Greeks have a word for it”).

It’s a humorous phrase that was launched into our language with a splash on September 25, 1930.

That was the night the bawdy play The Greeks Had a Word for It opened on Broadway.

The Greeks Had a Word for It was written by the Missouri-born American playwright, poet and screenwriter Zoë Akins (1886-1958). And, she is generally given credit for coining the phrase she used as its title.

Several of Akins’ plays had been produced prior to that night. One of them — Declassée, starring Ethel Barrymore — was a big hit on Broadway in 1919.

In 1935, Akins won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play The Old Maid (1935).

But her most remembered play (and play on words) is The Greeks Had a Word for It.

It’s a comedy about three young “gold diggers,” women on the hunt for wealthy men.

What was the “It” the Greeks had a word for?

“It” obviously seemed to be referring to something that no one in polite society would say publicly at the time.

I’ll let you figure “It” out for yourself. But here’s a hint…

In 1932, Twentieth Century Fox made a film version of the play, starring Joan Blondell, Madge Evans, and Ina Claire.

The original title of the film was The Greeks Had a Word for Them.

Apparently the word “It” seemed too obviously salacious to the censors who enforced The Motion Picture Production Code of 1930 (a.k.a. Hays Code), which prohibited “obscenity.”

Even the title The Greeks Had a Word for Them was considered a bit racy in 1932. So, the name was ultimately changed to Three Broadway Girls.

In 1953, Akins’ play was used as the basis for a much more famous film starring Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall.

It was titled How to Marry a Millionaire.

Although that film also avoided using Akins’ original play title, it revived interest in her and her plays, leading her to be hired as a scriptwriter for several early, prestigious television shows in the years before her death in 1958, including Kraft Television Theatre and Screen Directors Playhouse.

Of course, the phrase “the Greeks had a word for it” has outlived the stuffy censors of earlier decades.

It is still commonly used today as a humorous saying — though what “It” is now varies depending on the use and does not necessarily refer to an “obscene” sex-related term.

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The first Letterman “Top Ten” list debuted 25 years ago today…

If you were watching David Letterman’s show on September 18, 1985, back when it was still on NBC and called Late Night with David Letterman, you saw a bit of TV history being made.

On that night, Letterman introduced his first “Top Ten” list.

Early in the show, he commented on that fact that “top ten” lists seemed to be popping up everywhere in the media.

He showed an example in the latest issue of Good Housekeeping magazine, then said, in his trademark deadpan style:

“Because these things are so popular and such solid network television programming material, we’ve decided tonight...we’re gonna start our own top ten list. And, tonight, I think we got a pretty good one. Tonight, will be Late Night’s ‘Top Ten Words That Almost Rhyme with ‘Peas.’”

After that, Letterman’s “Top Ten” segment became a regular and hugely popular feature of the show.

He took it with him when he moved from NBC to CBS in 1993, where it’s officially called the “Late Show Top Ten List.”

And, although Letterman’s first Top Ten list did not create a specific quote or catchphrase, it did create a famous, familiar and oft-copied format.

Letterman introduces the list with some funny comments. He reads the title of the list. Then he reads the list backwards starting with ten and counting down to number one, frequently with the help of a guest who is on the show or who pops in just to read the list. (Some of my favorites were Homer Simpson, Bruno and Britney Spears.)

Of course, it’s usually a lot funnier to watch the Top Ten segment than to read it. You never know what quips Letterman or bandleader Paul Shaffer will throw in or what celebrity might show up to read the list. 

And, it all started exactly 25 years ago today, with the very first Letterman Top Ten List, the “Top Ten Things That Almost Rhyme With Peas.”

Here they are, in descending order:

10. Heats
9. Rice
8. Moss
7. Ties
6. Needs
5. Lens
4. Ice
3. Nurse
2. Leaks

And, the number one word that almost rhymes with peas is (drumroll):

1) Meats!

 

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Further reading…

On today's date, two immortal naval quotations were launched by Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry...

On September 10, 1813, American ships under the command of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry engaged a British naval squadron on Lake Erie during the War of 1812.

Perry’s flagship was a 20-gun brig that had recently been renamed The Lawrence, in honor of his fallen friend, U.S. Navy Captain James Lawrence.

On June 1, 1813, Capt. Lawrence was mortally wounded during a fight between American and British ships near Boston.

It was reported that, as he lay dying, Lawrence said: “Tell the men to fire faster and not give up the ship. Fight her till she sinks.”

Commodore Perry helped immortalize the pithier, famous version of this quote.

He had a special battle flag made that said “DON’T GIVE UP THE SHIP.” And, during the September 10th battle on Lake Erie, it was defiantly unfurled on The Lawrence.

It was the British who prevailed in the June naval engagement that the took the life of Capt. Lawrence.

But in the Battle of Lake Erie, the Americans won and captured all of the British ships.

Commodore Perry quickly scrawled a brief report on the back of an envelope and had it sent to U.S. General William Henry Harrison.

He wrote:

Dear General:
We have met the enemy and they are ours. Two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop.  
Yours with great respect and esteem, 
O.H. Perry

The first line, “We have met the enemy and they are ours,” became one of the most famous U.S. Navy quotations in history.

And, the special battle flag Perry flew that day made the short version of Capt. Lawrence’s dying words an immortal naval motto.

Perry’s flag is now on display at The United States Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, Maryland.

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Related reading and viewing…

“We must love one another or die.”

September 1, 1939 is now called the day when World War II started.

It was the day when German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler ordered his Nazi troops to invade neighboring Poland. He claimed it was an act of self defense, necessary to protect German citizens and the territorial rights of Germany.

“Germans in Poland are persecuted with a bloody terror and are driven from their homes,” Hitler said, in a proclamation he issued that day. “The series of border violations, which are unbearable to a great power, prove that the Poles no longer are willing to respect the German frontier. In order to put an end to this frantic activity no other means is left to me now than to meet force with force.”

Nobody could know at the time that this was the beginning of what would be a horrific worldwide conflict in which 60 million people would die.

But many people who heard the ominous news recognized it as the start of something bad.

British author and poet W.H. Auden (1907-1973) was in New York when he heard about it. It led him to write a famous poem about his thoughts that day.

The poem was initially titled “September: 1939,” but changed to “September 1, 1939” when it was first published in New Republic magazine on October 18, 1939.

One line in this poem became a familiar and oft-used quotation: “We must love one another or die.”

It comes at the end of the next to last verse:

       “All I have is a voice
        To undo the folded lie,
        The romantic lie in the brain
        Of the sensual man-in-the-street
        And the lie of Authority
        Whose buildings grope the sky:
        There is no such thing as the State
        And no one exists alone;
        Hunger allows no choice
        To the citizen or the police;
        We must love one another or die.”

“September 1, 1939” is an eloquent condemnation of totalitarian governments and war; a plea for human empathy and peace.

Soon after being published, it became famous. But Auden himself soon decided it was sappy and self-indulgent, calling it “the most dishonest poem I have ever written.”

By the 1950s, he began refusing to allow it to be reprinted in poetry anthologies.

The poem — especially the line “We must love one another or die” — remain famous nonetheless.

NOTE: A version of Auden’s famed line was infamously used in Lyndon Johnson’s “Daisy” ad.

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