I've seen the phrase as "What if we threw a war and nobody came?"
If that helps.
I think it's a slogan from the '60s posted by seanyboy at 10:23 AM on June 13, 2007
There's a Far Side cartoon in which generals are in a situation room, and one of them says (with a dumb, wistful expression) "What if we threw a war and everybody came?"
I've googled for it, but can't find the image.
I imagine the origin is wishful thinking about parties. "What if ALL my friends showed up? That'd be great" etc. posted by WPW at 10:25 AM on June 13, 2007
There's a Far Side cartoon in which generals are in a situation room, and one of them says (with a dumb, wistful expression) "What if we threw a war and everybody came?"
Actually, I believe that was Gahan Wilson. I've been furiously trying to locate it since the question appeared, but no luck ... posted by jbickers at 10:28 AM on June 13, 2007
I think it's safe to say that it was popularized during the Vietnam War. A few of the googles I did mentioned it as a "bumper sticker slogan" or just "slogan" of the era.
Also, jbickers, the cartoon in question was a Far Side cartoon. posted by MasonDixon at 10:34 AM on June 13, 2007
For anyone who doesn't feel like clicking through to the earlier thread, Carl Sandburg wrote "Sometime they’ll give a war and nobody will come" in The People Yes (1936); at some undetermined point in the '60s, this idea was turned into the slogan "What if they gave a war and nobody came?"
(I would like to second vacapinta's dismay in that thread that the poster marked an urban legend as Best Answer.) posted by languagehat at 10:41 AM on June 13, 2007
How did gave become threw then? posted by A189Nut at 10:54 AM on June 13, 2007
I remember the cartoon... I can't say for sure if it was Far Side, or Gahan Wilson, or.. maybe... Addams???
I recall it as "On the other hand, gentlemen, what if we threw a war and everybody came?" posted by The Deej at 11:00 AM on June 13, 2007
How did gave become threw then?
I don't think it did, I think the poster misremembered it. At any rate, I've only seen it as "gave." posted by languagehat at 11:05 AM on June 13, 2007
I think it naturally gave way to "threw" because of its association with the idiomatic phrase "threw a party". The idea of throwing a war, rather than a party, makes a nice contrast that drives the point home more dramatically. posted by iamkimiam at 11:41 AM on June 13, 2007
Coulda been: had, threw, gave, etc... I will place no wager. posted by The Deej at 12:04 PM on June 13, 2007
"Gave a party" is more British, or upper-class USian, than "threw a party". Idiomatic American would have it "...held a war...", but apparently "gave" out-googles held 100:1. Other variants include "no one" for "nobody", and "showed up" for "came".
STUMPERS-L had an answer debunking the Brecht connection and bringing up one I couldn't verify -- Thornton Wilder.
This link calls it a Pfeifer and quotes it as "On the other hand, gentlemen, what if we gave a war and EVERYBODY came?"
The second link (actually, this is a click away from it) attributes it to Larson, and also quotes it as, "On the other hand, gentlemen, what if we gave a war and EVERYBODY came?"
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If that helps.
I think it's a slogan from the '60s
posted by seanyboy at 10:23 AM on June 13, 2007