Fiction_L Archives Do you know where this line comes from? Dates: 10/6/99,12:10 PM  through  10/7/99,3:32 PM  (13 postings) Search for: Select one or more indexes to search: 2011-current     2009-2010     2004-2008    1995-2003    (Matches from each index will be displayed separately in the results page.) Return to October 1999 thread menu   |   Fiction_L Archives Menu

FROM: "Jane Jorgenson" <[removed]@scls.lib.wi.us>
REC'D: 10/6/99, 12:10 PM

A colleague asked me to post this question. Her patron wants to know where
the line "Slowly, he turns step by step, inch by inch." comes from. The
patron didn't have much more information. The line had been used in
conversation with someone else, who assumed she knew the book he was
talking about. It seemed to the patron that the book is probably something
he read in college.

Thanks,
Jane Jorgenson
Madison Public Library - Pinney Branch
Madison, WI

FROM: "Jim Keith" <[removed]@nslsilus.ORG>
REC'D: 10/6/99, 12:50 PM

Jane:

I do remember a similar line in a Three Stooges movie where these 3 twits are
involved in some silly plot near Niagara Falls.

Jim Keith
Waukegan Public Library

>

FROM: "Lynn Silence" <[removed]@imail.slcl.lib.mo.us>
REC'D: 10/6/99, 1:08 PM

That is a line from an old vaudeville routine. One person in the sketch
says a word or phrase to the other person that triggers the 'slowly I
turned' response, and the slowly turning individual beats the tar out of
the other guy--usually with a rubber chicken or a pillow, or I have seen it
done with a squit bottle. You can see it in an episode of I LOVE LUCY--now
everyone knows what kind of television I watch!


lks

At 12:12 PM 10/6/1999 -0500, you wrote:
>A colleague asked me to post this question. Her patron wants to know where
>the line "Slowly, he turns step by step, inch by inch." comes from. The
>patron didn't have much more information. The line had been used in
>conversation with someone else, who assumed she knew the book he was
>talking about. It seemed to the patron that the book is probably something
>he read in college.
>
>Thanks,
>Jane Jorgenson
>Madison Public Library - Pinney Branch
>Madison, WI
>
>
>
Lynn K. Silence
Manager, Collection Development
St. Louis County Library
300 Clarkson Road, Ellisville, Missouri 63011
Voice: 636-227-1138, Fax: 636-227-9632
"If a public library is doing its job, it has something
in it that offends every single person." Phyllis A. Salak

FROM: "lois tipton" <[removed]@mcls.rochester.lib.ny.us>
REC'D: 10/6/99, 1:23 PM

I was thinking it was a line used frequently in the 3 Stooges!


Lynn Silence wrote:
>
> That is a line from an old vaudeville routine. One person in the sketch
> says a word or phrase to the other person that triggers the 'slowly I
> turned' response, and the slowly turning individual beats the tar out of
> the other guy--usually with a rubber chicken or a pillow, or I have seen it
> done with a squit bottle. You can see it in an episode of I LOVE LUCY--now
> everyone knows what kind of television I watch!
>
> lks
>
> At 12:12 PM 10/6/1999 -0500, you wrote:
> >A colleague asked me to post this question. Her patron wants to know where
> >the line "Slowly, he turns step by step, inch by inch." comes from. The
> >patron didn't have much more information. The line had been used in
> >conversation with someone else, who assumed she knew the book he was
> >talking about. It seemed to the patron that the book is probably something
> >he read in college.
> >
> >Thanks,
> >Jane Jorgenson
> >Madison Public Library - Pinney Branch
> >Madison, WI
> >
> >
> >
> Lynn K. Silence
> Manager, Collection Development
> St. Louis County Library
> 300 Clarkson Road, Ellisville, Missouri 63011
> Voice: 636-227-1138, Fax: 636-227-9632
> "If a public library is doing its job, it has something
> in it that offends every single person." Phyllis A. Salak

--
Lois Tipton
A/YA Collection Development Librarian
Consultant Services
Monroe County Library System
Rochester, New York
716-428-8303; fax 428-8353
[removed]@mcls.rochester.lib.ny.us

FROM: "SHARRON SMITH" <[removed]@kpl.org>
REC'D: 10/6/99, 1:37 PM

This line was used by one of the Three Stooges, sorry can't remember which
one. It may not have originated there but was made famous by one of the
trio.

-----Original Message-----
From: Jane Jorgenson [<A HREF="mailto:jajorgen@scls.lib.wi.us">mailto:jajorgen@scls.lib.wi.us</A>]
Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 1999 1:13 PM
[removed]@maillist.nslsilus.org
Subject: Do you know where this line comes from?

A colleague asked me to post this question. Her patron
wants to know where
the line "Slowly, he turns step by step, inch by inch."
comes from. The
patron didn't have much more information. The line had been
used in
conversation with someone else, who assumed she knew the
book he was
talking about. It seemed to the patron that the book is
probably something
he read in college.

Thanks,
Jane Jorgenson
Madison Public Library - Pinney Branch
Madison, WI

FROM: "Beth McGraw-Wagner" <[removed]@bcpl.net>
REC'D: 10/6/99, 2:05 PM

I am so glad someone else remembers this from the 3 Stooges. I was afraid
I wasn't being literary enough.
Beth McGraw-Wagner
Baltimore County Public Library


On Wed, 6 Oct 1999, Jim Keith wrote:

> Jane:
>
> I do remember a similar line in a Three Stooges movie where these 3 twits are
> involved in some silly plot near Niagara Falls.
>
> Jim Keith
> Waukegan Public Library
>
> >
>
>

FROM: "Suzanne O'Gorman" <[removed]@linc.lib.il.us>
REC'D: 10/6/99, 2:13 PM

Abbott and Costello did this routine in the movie Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion.

Suzanne O'Gorman

----------
From: Jane Jorgenson[[removed]@scls.lib.wi.us]
Reply To: [removed]@maillist.nslsilus.org
Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 1999 12:41 PM
To: [removed]@maillist.nslsilus.org
Subject: Do you know where this line comes from?

A colleague asked me to post this question. Her patron wants to know where
the line "Slowly, he turns step by step, inch by inch." comes from. The
patron didn't have much more information. The line had been used in
conversation with someone else, who assumed she knew the book he was
talking about. It seemed to the patron that the book is probably something
he read in college.

Thanks,
Jane Jorgenson
Madison Public Library - Pinney Branch
Madison, WI

FROM: <[removed]@ocln.org>
REC'D: 10/6/99, 2:36 PM

I thought it was from an old Abbot and Costello movie.

Diane Kadanoff
Norwell Public Library
Norwell, Ma

FROM: "JoAnn Vicarel" <[removed]@chuhpl.lib.oh.us>
REC'D: 10/6/99, 2:38 PM

The line comes from an I LOVE LUCY show where Lucy is trying to get into
show business yet again and she hires a clown to teach her a routine.
Every time she uses his ex-wife's name, the clown says the line and then
beats Lucy with whatever is in his hands. I am unaware of the line in any
literary context.

It was also used in one of the Three Stooges skits and involved Niagra
Falls, according to another staff member here. Yet another person believes
it to be an Abbott and Costello skit.

Jo Ann Vicarel
Cleveland Hts-University Hts Public Library
2345 Lee Road
Cleveland Hts, Ohio 44118
216-932-3600
[removed]@chuhpl.lib.oh.us

FROM: <[removed]@ocln.org>
REC'D: 10/6/99, 2:48 PM

I thought it was from an old Abbot and Costello movie.

Diane Kadanoff
Norwell Public Library
Norwell, Ma

FROM: <[removed]@aol.com>
REC'D: 10/6/99, 7:48 PM

Hi! The line is from the Three Stooges. It was said everytime someone said
the words, "Niagara Falls". After "step by step" followed the stooges
clobbering each other! Pretty funny! Hope all is well at your library.

Valerie Janci
Wauconda Library
Wauconda, Il.

FROM: "Nancy Eggert" <[removed]@chipublib.org>
REC'D: 10/6/99, 8:20 PM

And I think the trigger phrase was "Niagara Falls!" Whenever the main
fool in the sketch heard the phrase Niagara Falls, he/she went into his
routine.

Nancy Eggert
Northtown Branch
Chicago Public Library

FROM: "Dennis K. Lien" <[removed]@tc.umn.edu>
REC'D: 10/7/99, 3:32 PM

Yes, Abbot and Costello did it; yes, The Three Stooges did it; yes, the
folks on I LOVE LUCY did it. It's a traditional vaudeville routine, and
probably lots of other folks did it too...

Here's a text (from memory) via Stumpers Archives (the question has come
up a couple of times before on Stumpers, and a search of its Archives
using keywords slowly turn step
will bring up all posting on the discussion there...):

s is a section of the document
'gopher_root:[searchidx]stumpers-l_1995-07.txt;31'.


Date: Wed, 12 Jul 1995 22:51:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Walt Howe, DELPHI Internet SIG Manager" <[removed]@delphi.com>
To: [removed]@Harris.COM
Cc: [removed]@CRF.CUIS.EDU
Subj: Re: ? Quote Slowly I Turn... The Text

As others have pointed out, the skit has been performed by many along the
way in various media. Here is a rough script for the skit as performed live
on stage, reconstructed from memory--

As the skit opens, two men are standing talking and a big brute of a man,
looking very troubled, stands off to the side.

First man: That guy looks terrible. What's the matter with him?

Second man: Oh, it's a long story. Very sad.

First man: Tell me about it, please.

Second man: Well, years ago he got married, and on their honeymoon his new
wife ran away with another man. It drove him over the edge, and
ever since then, when he hears the name of the place, he goes
crazy.

First man: Oh, yah? What's the name of the place.

Second man: Well I better not say it out loud. But it's where honeymooners
go. Where there's a big waterfall.

First man: Honeymooners? Waterfall? Oh, you mean Niagara Falls!

Brute: Niagara Falls!!!! [loudly, madly] Slowly I turned! Inch by inch,
step by step I crept up on him. I grabbed him, I shook him, and
I threw him over the cliff!!!

[as the brute recites this litany, he stalks toward the First Man, grabs
him, shakes him, and throws him violently to the ground. He then retires
off to the side again.The first man staggers back to his feet.]

First man: Whew, I see what you mean about the guy. You warned me, too. Well,
I'm never going to say that again!

Second man: Say what?

First man: Niagara Falls!

Brute: Niagara Falls!!!! ... [repeats the previous sequence, throwing the
man to the ground again. The First man staggers to his feet again,
a bit shakier than the first time.]

First man: That was terrible! You tricked me, but I'll never say that again.

Second man: Say what?

First man: Niag... Oh no, oh no! You can't trick me again. You can't get me
to say Niagara Falls again.

Brute: Niagara Falls!!!!! [sequence repeats for a third time and ends in
blackout.]


Dennis Lien / U of Minnesota Libraries // [removed]@tc.umn.edu

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