source of "lesser of two weevils"

[schwal]

I have spent a couple of hours looking around for the origin of this pun. the earliest document i could find it in was a 1991 book by Patrick O’Brien here. (Master and Commander was based on this series) I am almost positive that someone thought up this pun prior to 1991, but am unable to find any sources.

[ftg]

(Just to save others the time, the earliest post containing it I found at Google groups dates only to Nov. 1993.)

[Satellite_Guy]

I seem to remember it in a “101 Bug Jokes” type of book, where they were listing the top ten bug movies, or something. It also, somewhere in it, made mention of the motorcycle daredevil, Evil Boll Weevil.
For the record, I would’ve had that book in the early to mid 80’s.
Of course, memories being what they sometimes are, I may be way off as to whether or not this is where I read it…

S^G

[AHunter3]

I received it on a cartoony birthday card in the days before internet. Maybe in the days before graphic user interfaces.

[ticker]

I sent a birthday card to my brother with that joke in 1979.

[Belowjob2.0]

I would bet money that the phrase was coined when bw infestations first began to be a major problem for cotton growers. 1900 to 1910 would be my guess.

Southern newspaper archives from the period might have a quote.

The boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis) is a beetle measuring an average length of six millimeters, which feeds on cotton buds and flowers. Thought to be native to Central America, it migrated into the US from Mexico in the late 19th century and had infested all US cotton-growing areas by the 1920s, devastating the industry and the people working in the American south. During the late 20th century it became a serious pest in South America as well. Since 1978, the Boll Weevil Eradication Program in the US has allowed full-scale cultivation to resume in many regions.

In Popular Culture
Boll weevil monument, Enterprise, Alabama.

Music

Boll weevils are featured prominently in dozens of blues, country, folk, and rock songs:

* Blues pioneer Charley Patton wrote the first known song about the Boll weevil, "Mississippi Bo Weavil Blues", in 1910, and recorded it on a 78 for Paramount Records in July 1929.

* "Mother of the Blues" Ma Rainey recorded "Bo-Weevil Blues" in Chicago in December, 1923 and re-recorded the song in 1927. It was also covered by Bessie Smith in 1924.


* Masked Marvel, who is Charley Patton, from the Harry Smith's Anthology of American Music Vol 1- Ballads- Mississippi Boweavil (Boll Weevil) Blues

* Lead Belly encounters a Boll weevil and its family in a song titled Boll Weevil in the album Good Night, Irene.

* Folk/Blues musician Huddie Ledbetter (aka Lead Belly), working as driver and field assistant, recorded "Boll Weevil" for John A. Lomax on October 15, 1934 in Shreveport, Louisiana, and again the following year in Wilton, Connecticut. This version was later covered by Lead Belly fan and collaborator Tex Ritter and also by modern alternative band The White Stripes, who end almost every live show with "Ballad of the Boll Weevil".

* Woody Guthrie sang "Boll Weevil Song" in a recording session for Alan Lomax on March 21, 1940.

* Buster Ezell performed a song called "The Boll Weevil" twice during the Fort Valley State College Folk Festival of 1941.

[edit] Other

* In the movie Sordid Lives, a character named Juanita Bartlett says, "I've seen boll weevils in flour, cornmeal and paper..paprika...but never in a rooster that you made in vacation bible school!"


* The town of Enterprise, Alabama has a monument to the boll weevil for destroying the cotton crop and necessitating the growing of peanuts, soy beans, and other crops that turned out to be much more profitable."Enterprise, Alabama - Boll Weevil Monument". http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tips/getAttraction.php?tip_AttractionNo==19. Retrieved on 2008-04-20. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boll_weevil

[Floppy_Joe]

Weevils are also in space…
Star Weevils

[rowrrbazzle]

Sept. 4, 1883, Chicago Daily Tribune, page 11, “Quips” column.

“The wheat-growers motto–of two weevils choose the less.”

And there are probably earlier uses, but the Trib is the only historical db I can access.

[Belowjob2.0]

@Floppy_Joe

Weevils are also in space…
Star Weevils

I can’t even imagine the amount of weed you’d need to smoke to write that.

“Dude, you know those cotton bugs?”
“Weevils?”
“Yeah, weevils. What if…” He giggles uncontrollably.
“What?!” Also laughs.
“What if there were weevils, in like, space.”
“No!” Laughing and gasping for air.
“Yeah, dude. Like in space, but they were fighting a war, with weapons and everything.”
“Weevil light sabers!”
“Dude! You’re slaying me!”
“The Trouble with Weevils!”
“That’s Trek.”
“Oh, sorry. Gimme another hit off that bong.”

[samclem]

@rowrrbazzle

Sept. 4, 1883, Chicago Daily Tribune, page 11, “Quips” column.

“The wheat-growers motto–of two weevils choose the less.”

And there are probably earlier uses, but the Trib is the only historical db I can access.

I envy you that.

Only very slightly earlier(1877) and from the same original source, no doubt.

“The wheat-grower’s maxim–Of two weevils, choose the least.” (In another IL. newspaper)

[Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor]

Walt Kelly did a brief series of comic strips on this theme in Pogo during the 50s.

[dmatsch]

Master and Commander

Russel Crowe 2003

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) ⭐ 7.5 | Action,...

[Telcontar]

This is why I love straightdope.

[schwal]

@dmatsch

Master and Commander

Russel Crowe 2003

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) - IMDb

Did you not read my first post?

Thanks to the rest of the people who can read three sentences.

[bibliophage]

I’ve always heard it as the “lessor (i.e., landlord) of two weevils.” I found that wording in a computer book published in 1975, if the date is right. It doesn’t beat 1877 but it’s closer to the OP’s wording.

[Exapno_Mapcase]

@bibliophage

I’ve always heard it as the “lessor (i.e., landlord) of two weevils.” I found that wording in a computer book published in 1975, if the date is right. It doesn’t beat 1877 but it’s closer to the OP’s wording.

I’ve never seen this usage. Nor does it make any sense. Lesser has to be a pun on lesser of two evils. Landlord of two weevils? That’s not a joke even by computer joke standards.

[dmatsch]

@schwal

Did you not read my first post?

Thanks to the rest of the people who can read three sentences.

I never learned how to read, thank you. Are you making fun of my disability?
<truthiness>
Sorry. I’ve got a migraine today and I’m having difficulties seeing anything but doubles.
</truthiness>

[dracoi]

@Exapno_Mapcase

I’ve never seen this usage. Nor does it make any sense. Lesser has to be a pun on lesser of two evils. Landlord of two weevils? That’s not a joke even by computer joke standards.

“Lessor of two weevils” makes sense as a joke if you’re already talking about landlords, but only if you can assume the reader is already familiar with “lesser of two weevils.”

My guess is that people starting punning on “lesser of two evils” almost as soon as it became common usage itself.