Carol Mangiaracina? R. S. Bond? T. J. Ruddy? George Korber? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: The following humorous proverb encourages a person to remain silent:
A fish wouldn’t get caught if it kept its mouth shut.
Would you please explore the provenance of this saying?
Reply from Quote Investigator: This saying is difficult to trace because it can be expressed in many ways. Here is an overview with dates which summarizes the evolution:
1891 Nov: Man is a good deal like a fish. You know, the fish would never get in very serious trouble if it kept its mouth shut.
1902 May: A fish can avoid a lot of trouble by keeping its mouth shut. So can the house furnishing buyer.
1915 Jul: A man like a fish can generally avoid being caught by keeping his mouth shut.
1920 Jun: Consider the fish; he never gets caught so long as he keeps his mouth shut.
1921 Oct: Even a fish won’t get caught if it keeps its mouth shut.
1923 Nov: Even a fish would not get caught if it would just keep its darn mouth shut.
1934 Mar: It’s when he doesn’t keep his mouth shut that a fish gets caught and that’s when some people get into trouble, too.
1958 Jan: What did one fish say to the other fish? Keep your mouth shut and you won’t get caught.
2020 Aug: Even a fish won’t get caught if it keeps its mouth shut.
Below are selected citations in chronological order.
In November 1891 “The Yonkers Statesman” of Yonkers, New York printed a collection of comical statement s under the title “Whim-Whams”. Below are the first two items. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
Man is a good deal like a fish. You know, the fish would never get in very serious trouble if it kept its mouth shut.
Most people do not like to have cold water thrown on their efforts, but the professional “rain maker” is not that sort.
No attribution was specified for any of sayings; hence, the originator of the quip under examination remains unknown.
In December 1891 the humor magazine “Puck” of New York printed the quip while acknowledging the newspaper listed above:2
Man is a good deal like a fish. You know, the fish would never get in very serious trouble if it kept its mouth shut. —Yonkers Statesman.
This version of the joke continued to circulate for several years. For example, in 1893 it appeared in “Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine” of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.3 In 1900 it appeared in “Our Paper” in Concord Junction, Massachusetts.4
In 1902 a shorter version of the quip appeared in “The House Furnishing Review” of Park Place, New York:5
A fish can avoid a lot of trouble by keeping its mouth shut. So can the house furnishing buyer.
In 1915 the periodical “Trumbull Cheer” from The Trumbull Electric Manufacturing Company of Connecticut published a collection of remarks which included these three items:6
“A level headed man is merely one who always agrees with us.”
“A man like a fish can generally avoid being caught by keeping his mouth shut.”
“We are all inclined to give a man who agrees with us credit for more wisdom than he really deserves.”
In 1920 the “Bankers’ Monthly” of Chicago, Illinois printed an article by R. S. Bond which included an instance:7
The full quotation: “Consider the fish; he never gets caught so long as he keeps his mouth shut.”
In 1921 the journal “The Western Osteopath” of California printed an article by T. J. Ruddy which contained an instance:8
… we all can agree with the editor of Whiz Bang that “Even a fish won’t get caught if it keeps its mouth shut.”
In 1923 “The Bessemer Monthly” from The Bessemer Gas Engine Company of Pennsylvania printed the following:9
Listen to the Lesson of the Fish
Even a fish would not get caught if it would just keep its darn mouth shut.
In 1934 “The Buffalo Times” of Buffalo, New York attributed the joke to a local man:10
George Korber, the Genesee street fish story man, says it’s when he doesn’t keep his mouth shut that a fish gets caught and that’s when some people get into trouble, too.
In 1958 a newspaper in Bristol, Pennsylvania printed a collection of riddles from Carol Mangiaracina which included the following:11
What did one fish say to the other fish?
Keep your mouth shut and you won’t get caught.
The quip has been circulating for more than a century. In 2020 a newspaper in Stettler, Alberta, Canada published the following:12
Humour for the day — “A friend is someone who knows all about you and still likes you anyway.”
“Even a fish won’t get caught if it keeps its mouth shut.”
In conclusion, a version of this saying appeared in a newspaper in Yonkers, New York in 1891. The creator was anonymous. The phrasing has evolved over time, and the proverb has been employed by a wide variety of people.
Image Notes: Public domain illustration of a Common Perch, Perca Fluviatilis from The New York Public Library Digital Collections. The image is dated 1804 from the Rare Book Division.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Jonathan Lighter whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Also, thanks to researcher Barry Popik who located the 1958 riddle. Additional thanks to discussant Bill Mullins.
- 1891 November 18, The Yonkers Statesman, Whim-Whams, Quote Page 2, Column 4, Yonkers, New York. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1891 December 9, Puck, Section: The Pretty Typewriter, Quote Page 283, Column 2, Keppler & Schwarzmann, Puck Building, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1893 February, Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, Current Notes, Start Page 261, Quote Page 282, J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1900 December 1, Our Paper, Volume 16, Number 48, Sense and Nonsense, Quote Page 767, Column 2, Massachusetts Reformatory, Concord Junction, Massachusetts. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1902 May, The House Furnishing Review, Volume 21, Number 5, The Trade Lounger, Quote Page 320, I. B. Scott, Park Place, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1915 July, Trumbull Cheer Volume 9, Number 7, Untitled Collection of Sayings, Quote Page Zero, The Trumbull Electric Manufacturing Company, Plainville, Connecticut. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1920 June, Bankers’ Monthly, Volume 37, Number 6, Consider the Poor Fish: A timely word to the grouchy teller by R. S. Bond, Quote Page 42, Column 1 and 2, Chicago, Illinois. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1921 October, The Western Osteopath, Volume 16, Number 5, Gossip, a Form of Insanity by T. J. Ruddy, Start Page 40, Quote Page 41, Column 2, California Osteopathic Association, Oakland, California. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1923 November, The Bessemer Monthly, More or Less Serious, Listen to the Lesson of the Fish, Quote Page 11, Column 2, The Bessemer Gas Engine Company, Grove City, Pennsylvania. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1934 March 10, The Buffalo Times, The Daily Hammer, Quote Page 15, Column 2, Buffalo, New York. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1958 January 7, The Bristol Daily Courier, Section: The Junior Reporter Club, Riddles by Carol Mangiaracina, Quote Page 17, Column 3, Bristol, Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 2020 August 20, Stettler Independent, The latest news from the Byemoor and Endiang regions by Les and Rosemary Stulberg (Byemoor Endiang News), Quote Page A8, Column 2 and 3, Stettler, Alberta, Canada. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎