Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Murphy Probably A Man

Author:Samuel Reynolds
Posted:9/30/1999; 9:22:13 AM
Topic:Today's scriptingNews Outline
Msg #:11646 (In response to 11632)
Prev/Next:11645 / 11647

Dictionary.com has a plausible explanation of the origin of Murphy's Law:
<http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=murphy%27s%20law>.

On the other hand, there was a popular song back in the 1890s called "Who Put the Overalls in Mrs. Murphy's Chowder". I don't recall all the words, but here's the core of the tale:

When Mrs. Murphy dished the chowder out
She fainted on the spot.
She'd found a pair of overalls
At the bottom of the pot.

and

When Mrs. Murphy she came to
She began to cry and pout
She'd had them in the was that day
Forgot to take them out

Perhaps it hadn't yet been formalized, but Murphy's Law was definitely in effect long before Edward A. Murphy, Jr.!

- Sam

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