June 1990

spy

TAKE RODNEY DANGERFIELD, please
Sweaty Borscht Belt Comic or Annoying Figure of speech?
Why is it that over the last year so few of the references to Rodney Dangerheld in the press were actually about Rodney Dangerfield? Perhaps it's because Dangerfield the man is far less useful than Dangerfield the symbol to deadline-pressed writers desperate for a catchy lead sentence, Herewith, a severely condensed anthology of the year in Dangerfield metaphors.
"Aphrodisiac research, while gaining repute, still remains the Rodney Dangerfield of the academic world"
-The Wall Street Journal
February 14, 1989
"Six years after its birth, the Small Computer Systems Interlace (SCSI) -the Rodney Dangerfield of peripheral attechment schemes - may soon get some respect as the primary method of attaching external devices to PCs."
- PC Week, April 4, 1989
"Talk to any top executive of Westinghouse Electric Corp. and before long you'll hear the same complaint: 'We can't get no respect: we're the Rodney Dangerfield of industrial America." - Forbese, July 3, 1989
"Manufactured housing don't get no respect- Comedian Rodney Dangerfield usually gets a laugh when he says the same about himself, But the public's lark of respect for the manufactured housing industry is no joke to its developers and owners." -Crain's Detroit Business, September 4, 1989
"Motor oil is the Rodney Dangerfield of the aufomotive aftermarket."
-Automotive Marketing, October, 1, 1989
"Historically, the auto auction business has been the Rodney Dangertield of the automotive industry" -Advantage, December 1, 1989