# "Send lawyers, guns and money" original to Warren Zevon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 20, 2025, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-lawyers-guns-and-money-original-to-warren-zevon/1014586 "2025-02-20T18:01:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-lawyers-guns-and-money-original-to-warren-zevon/1014586/1 "2025-02-20T18:01:21Z")
Or was it a term in use already? Has to be the best phrase ever about being in trouble! ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-lawyers-guns-and-money-original-to-warren-zevon/1014586/2 "2025-02-20T21:16:16Z")
Zevon may have been inspired by a [19th Century song](https://folksongandmusichall.com/index.php/macdermotts-war-song/) touting the might of the British Empire: _We don’t want to fight but by Jingo if we do, We’ve got the ships, we’ve got the men, we’ve got the money too_ ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-lawyers-guns-and-money-original-to-warren-zevon/1014586/3 "2025-02-21T02:48:44Z")
ChatGPT says about “The shit has hit the fan”: The earliest known written reference is from the “U.S. military during World War II”. No attribution so probably not a flag officer. Admiral Farragut is famous for “Damn the torpedoes … full speed ahead!” and General Anthony Clement “ **Nuts** ” McAuliffe once said something he’s remembered for. ---
**Author:** ![Tj54](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tj54/32/17945_2.png) [@Tj54](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tj54)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-lawyers-guns-and-money-original-to-warren-zevon/1014586/4 "2025-02-21T05:38:00Z")
Sounds like something Hunter Thompson might have written, although the phrase sounds earlier than Warren Zevon. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-lawyers-guns-and-money-original-to-warren-zevon/1014586/5 "2025-02-21T06:14:15Z")
From [Riots, Civil and Criminal Disorders: Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations, United States Senate](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Riots_Civil_and_Criminal_Disorders/hVBKAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0), 1968: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/yLJGgSX.png "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/yLJGgSX) Probably coincidental, but who knows? Maybe Zevon picked up the theme from reading this transcript at some point. Marijuana is a suitable fourth item. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/send-lawyers-guns-and-money-original-to-warren-zevon/1014586/6 "2025-02-24T16:08:55Z")
Lawyers, guns and money are three things a spoiled rich kid might beg his dad to send if he was in a jam in a Central American country. I’m sure Zevon wrote the song independently, but I’m also sure you could find the list elsewhere.