Date: Thu, 11 Sep 1997 21:20:38 -0400

From: Fred Shapiro fred.shapiro[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]YALE.EDU

Subject: Re: Great Wigwam; Murphy's and Rawson's UNWRITTEN LAWS



The U. S. Navy's MURPHY'S LAW training film in 1957 is clear, but the

1949 story puzzles me. Supposedly, Captain Edward A. Murphy, Jr. worked

under Colonel John P. Stapp at Edwards Air Force Base; Murphy screwed in

things the wrong way. The original law was that if there are two ways of

doing something (right and wrong), someone will do it the wrong way.

Check the HDAS H-O 1957 citation from the Tamony Collection. Peter

Tamony (in nearby San Francisco) was a master at collecting Americanisms.

How could "Murphy's Law" have completely escaped him for eight years? And



Note that the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs documents 1955 and

1956 citations for _Murphy's Law_.





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