Did I steal this joke?

July 13, 2010 5:02 PM

Did I steal this joke? "Dress for the job you want. Unless you want to be an astronaut." (Or something along those lines.)
posted by YoungAmerican to Media & Arts (10 answers total)

A 30 Rock episode called "Do-Over" apparently had this line: "Don't dress for the job you have, dress for the job you want - unless it's a Mexican wrestler." (According to this guy.)
posted by ocherdraco at 5:14 PM on July 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

I think you did. I cannot place it, but I have heard a slight variation on it (I think it was, "... so this is why I dress as an astronaut.") I want to say Demetri Martin, but, as I say, I am not sure. However, I see a number of variants already out there.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:15 PM on July 13, 2010

My search was for "dress for the job you want unless," btw.
posted by ocherdraco at 5:17 PM on July 13, 2010

It's such an obvious twist on "Dress for the job you want, not the job you have," that I'm sure many people have independently thought of it.
posted by Jaltcoh at 5:21 PM on July 13, 2010

My favorite variation came from my friend Eva, who said, "I'm dressing for the job that I want! That's why I'm dressed like a housewife."
posted by kate blank at 6:33 PM on July 13, 2010

I've heard a DC comic do a similar "They always say dress for the job you want ... but what if you want to be a ninja?"
posted by Comrade_robot at 8:52 PM on July 13, 2010

search ">this page for "astronaut".

although I think the joke is older than that. I'm pretty sure it was in one of Steve Martin's SNL monologues...
posted by luvcraft at 9:51 PM on July 13, 2010

er, it looks like I broke that URL. It was supposed to go here.
posted by luvcraft at 10:19 PM on July 13, 2010

Wasn't that a Mitch Hedburg joke?
posted by KingEdRa at 10:53 PM on July 13, 2010

Over the past few years, I have repeatedly used variations of "I'd dress for the job I want, but I can't get the cowboy hat on over the space helmet, especially while I'm wearing the ninja gloves." I thought I stole it, but I have no idea from whom. I think Jaltcoh's right that it's parallel development.
posted by jessenoonan at 7:24 AM on July 14, 2010