Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2020 November 9

= November 9 =

this business we call show

 * Anyway, lots of people know odd phrase from the Bible, or the Prayer Book, or Shakespeare, or Kipling, without knowing the source, no need to criticise them for asking. DuncanHill (talk) 14:25, 9 November 2020 (UTC)

Thank you for that (a few sections up). So. What is the origin of the phrase "this business we call show"? One might reasonably suppose that it's from "There's No Business Like Show Business", but I don't hear it there. A quick search turns up a bunch of uses of the phrase with no hint as to its source. —Tamfang (talk) 01:39, 10 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Isn't it simply a joking reference, a funny way of saying "show business"? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 04:26, 10 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Are you saying that the phrase has many independent coiners? Possible, but I'd bet against. —Tamfang (talk) 02:29, 12 November 2020 (UTC)


 * The phrase occurs in a stanza ("So welcome, Miss Eve Harrington / To this business we call show") of the song "Welcome to the Theatre" in the 1970 musical Applause. The inversion fits the metre and provides rhyme ("we call show" — "to Kokomo" — "you'll love it so!"). It then re-emerges ("From this milkless tit, you sucked the very business we call show") in the 1998 musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. --Lambiam 08:43, 10 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Thanks. —Tamfang (talk) 02:29, 12 November 2020 (UTC)