# All work and no play.....

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-work-and-no-play/59360>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 24, 2001, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-work-and-no-play/59360 "2001-03-24T23:13:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2001, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-work-and-no-play/59360/1 "2001-03-24T23:13:04Z")

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Was the phrase “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” created by Stanley Kubrick for **The Shining**? I’ve heard it everywhere (a few minutes ago I heard it on an episode of _Ed, Edd, and Eddie_) and always think that they’re referring back to **The Shining** because that’s where I originally heard it. Did it used to be an obscure phrase suddenly brought back into light by a movie?

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**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-work-and-no-play/59360/2 "2001-03-25T00:07:55Z")

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The expression predates _The Shining_. I remember it as far back as the 1950s.

I couldn’t find anything on its origin, although I did find it listed on a page of Russian proverbs. I also found that there are a surprising number of websites that seem to consist of nothing but that phrase, repeated many times (as per Nicholsan’s “novel” in the movie).

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**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-work-and-no-play/59360/3 "2001-03-25T00:19:22Z")

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From the _Oxord Dictionary of English Proverbs_:

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy dates from 1670 in usage. From 1859 _Smiles_: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy; but all play and no work makes him something greatly worse.”

Hmm – would that something be “a doper”, by any chance? 🙂