A popular joke tells the difference between hunters and fishermen:
Q: What is the difference between a fisherman and a hunter?
A: A hunter lies in wait and a fisherman waits and lies.
The joke has been cited in print since at least 1981.
7 July 1981, Mobile (AL) Register, “Today’s chuckle,” pg. 1, col. 6:
The real difference between hunters and fishermen is that hunters lie and wait and fishermen wait and lie.
13 July 1982, The Leader (Lac Du Bonnet, Manitoba), “Letters to the Editor, pg. 4, col. 4:
Saw in a small paper that the difference between a fisherman and a hunter is a hunter lies in wait but a fisherman waits to “lie.”
(Letter by Julius Anderson.—ed.)
28 June 1990, Alamogordo Daily News, “Camper trailer burns east of Mayhill area” by Oza Holcomb, pg. 3B, col. 2:
Recently, Mr. and Mrs. Basil Holcomb were in Bullock’s Feed Store in Artesia and brought home some baby chicks. The past week they were back and Basil told Mr. Bullock the chicks were already laying. Mr. Bullock looked at him and grinned and asked if he knew the difference between a hunter and a fisherman. Basil said, “No.”
Mr. Bullock told him, “The difference is a hunter lies and waits and a fisherman waits and lies.”
4 July 1990, Evansville (IN) Courier, pg. C13, col. 1:
First guy: “What’s the difference between a hunter and a fisherman?”
Second guy:“The hunter lies in wait and the fisherman WAITS and LIES.”
Google Books
A Tackle Box of Fishing Funnies
By Bob Phillips
Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers
2003
Pg. 7:
What’s the difference between a hunter and a fisherman?
A hunter lies in wait while a fisherman waits and lies.
Twitter
Dean Bradshaw
@HoosierOutdoors
What’s the difference between a hunter and a fisherman?
A hunter lies in wait. A fisherman waits and lies.
2:55 PM - 13 Apr 2009
Twitter
Deer Hunting Probs
@Deerhuntingprob
The difference between a hunter and a fisherman.
A hunter lies in wait…
A fisherman waits and lies!
8:43 PM - 1 Jul 2014
Facebook
FishCo Fish Market
March 5, 2015
Friday Funnies:
Q: What is the difference between a Fisherman and a Hunter?
A: A Hunter lies in wait and a Fisherman waits and lies…
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
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Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
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