What was 1st use of this venerable phrase: “When [something] catches cold, [something else] gets pneumonia?
I thought it was “the U.S. . . . the South”–referring to post-Civil War, Reconstruction and Jim Crow days. After googling, I’m not so sure at all. One alternative possible first use was Civil Rights Movement, but there were several others. Anybody know for sure the original use? (Safire, are you online?)
It was Metternich. He was a great Austrian statesman in the early 19th Century. He originally said:
“When Paris sneezes, Europe catches a cold”.
http://www.enotes.com/famous-quotes/when-paris-sneezes-europe-catches-cold
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klemens_Wenzel_von_Metternich
