How long has the phrase “Danger is my middle name” been around? I know that similar constructions have been in use for a long time. The OED cites, for example, “Modesty is certainly not his middle name” [1926] and “'Money is his middle name’, ‘Art is her middle name’, meaning one’s forte.” [1932]
I knew that the “Danger” variant showed up in one of the Austin Powers movies. But recently I was surprised to find how much older it is than that. I just read (for the first time since the fourth grade) The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White, published in 1970. The line is there on p. 227 of the copy I read
Was this line in use before 1970 or was White the first to use it?