“You can’t take a second drink unless you have taken a first” was included in the book A Dictionary of American Proverbs (1991), but the saying has also been included on Internet lists of Albanian proverbs. The saying has been attested too infrequently to draw any conclusions about its origin.
Google Books
A Dictionary of American Proverbs
Edited by Wolfgang Mieder, Stewart A. Kingsbury and Kelsie B. Harder
New York, NY: Oxford University Press
1991
Pg. 240:
You can’t take a second drink unless you have taken a first. Rec. dist.: Ind.
World Wrestling Alliance Forum
LVE
Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 2:14 pm
(...)
“One drink will lead to another. That’s how it starts. You can’t have a second drink, if you don’t have the first. I need to give Dr. O’Dell a call.”
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Shopzeus You can’t take a second drink unless you have taken a first. Decorated Mouse Pad
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Added on April 02, 2010
Quotations Search
Posted 29th September 2012 by Mathew Brown
Famous Albanian sayings and proverbs.
(...)
25. “You can’t take a second drink unless you have taken a first.”
Special Dictionary
You can’t take a second drink unless you have taken a first.
American Proverbs
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.
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