J.E. Lighter, Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang (1997) gives the first citations of 1939 for “legal eagle” and 1949 for “legal beagle”. Both terms have the same definition: Google`s Ngram table for “legal beagle” versus “legal eagle” (red line) for the period 1920-2005 looks like this: Other research shows that Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the lyrics for Wildflower, which opened in New York City on February 7, 1923; the name “legal eagle” appears in some productions such as “Gaston Larotta” instead of “Gaston La Roche”. An early striking example of “Legal Eagle” appears in a review of an American musical called Wildflower in the Sydney [New South Wales] Morning Herald (1. December 1924): He was a good judge on men, this eagle-faced major; He knew that the slightest move with hostile intent would mean a smoking gun. Nevertheless, Harbach & Hammerstein`s Wildflower 1923 seems to have used both “legal eagle” and “legal beagle” in its lyrics and deserves (in my opinion) credit as a fundamental source for both terms. The term “Legal Eagle” also appeared in the December 2, 1940 and May 20, 1941 issues of Princeton Alumni Weekly. A bookstore ad in Michigan Raw Review (1941) [combined excerpts] offers this temptation: Houston continues to be a legal eagle with Sullivan and Cromwell and a growing representative of the “ultimate result of human wisdom acting on human experience for the benefit of the public” (Samuel Johnson). These first two allusions to Perry Mason as a “legal beagle” seem to be a game with his amazing ability to uncover the truth in a mysterious entangled ability that makes him appear partly as a lawyer and partly as a bloodhound. But why “legal beagle” instead of “legal bloodhound”? Aside from the appeal of rhyme, I think the writer was probably influenced by the existence of the “legal eagle,” which has been increasingly used as an American slang term since the late 1930s.
Since that episode [featuring a doctor pointing out numerous flaws in descriptions of Queen`s medical practice in a detective novel], Dannay and Lee have gotten into the habit of checking medical details with their GP before publication. They also hire a lawyer to clarify them in legal matters; At one point, his legal eagle struggled non-stop for two days and nights to get out of a problem with a complicated will. Wentworth & Flexner places both terms in the subcategory of “intentional rhyme terms and jive” of “rhyme terms and rhymed slang” – and that certainly seems reasonable. But the dictionary takes no position on whether “legal beagle” comes from “legal eagle.” At least for the world in prison, we believe we can assume three reasons for synonyms: first, a basic human pleasure in puns, which creates rhyming slang such as legal eagle or legal beagle; secondly, the vast inventory of names that already exist in the American language, from which, for example, black names originate; and, finally, those arising from the particular problems of daily prison life. This glamour on Wall Street probably comes from a large brass plaque with the E-engraving. Newton Cutler, assistant vice president of the National City Bank, and around the corner, the law firm Davis, Polk, Wardwell, Sunderland & Kiendl (advt.) is now calling on all other firms to match its representation of four `37 people, namely Charlie Pierce, Lang Van Norden, your secretary, and as of July 1, none other than the Corporation Legal Beagle has noticed Jack Irwin. “Nothing interesting to report.” From here we can see that Bill is still the legal eagle of Lynchburg and still has a wife and two children. Lloyd Paul Stryker, the legal eagle, landed a client last week who had not only already confessed and pleaded guilty, but had also been convicted and convicted. In fact, after thinking about it, Mr.
Stryker decided that while the case was a great challenge, it had its drawbacks, and he withdrew. The most intriguing case of “legal beagle,” however, is the one involving Perry Mason, the mysterious defender of Gardner`s many novels. The man and phrase appear several times in the January 19, 1948 issue of Life magazine, this time in an advertisement for another Gardner novel, The Case of the Crooked Candle: 1. As for the “legal beagle”, Australians show no sign that they have adopted it as an alternative to “legal eagle” or as a separate term. In the United States, the “legal beagle” is showing signs that it took hold around 1946, suggesting that it may have turned out to be a pleasant variant of “legal eagle” after the term became firmly established in American slang. The use of the term in advertisements for Perry Mason`s detective novels may have helped him become more popular. Now Electric Traction Hole-In-One Club, has a “legal eagle” A. L.
Vencill, of the legal department of the Union Switch and Signal Company, negotiated a hole in a shot at the Edgewood Country Club, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 19, 1928. In Australia, where Wildflower productions toured the country for years, the “Legal Eagle” seems to have established itself in the 1920s directly because of the play`s popularity. In the United States, there are few similarities to “Legal Eagle” between 1923 and 1939, when the Marx Brothers film At the Circus appears, in which Groucho plays a lawyer “Legal Eagle”. Yet “Legal Eagle” seems to have become a fairly established term in the United States by the mid-1940s. “legal eagle” and “legal eagle” both appear to be products of what Wentworth & Flexner, Dictionary of American Slang (1960) calls “intentional rhymes and jive.” A legal eagle who turned to comedy to find her wings, Faiza Saleem was a nonconformist from the start. In the 1920s, the character of Gaston La Roche (or Larotta) became known as the “legal eagle” in the musical Wildflower and also as the “legal beagle” in one sentence – albeit in a piece of music in which his legal wisdom comes into play. In 1939, Groucho Marx`s petty lawyer, J. Cheever Loophole in At the Circus, helped revive the “legal eagle” in American slang. And in the 1940s, Earle Stanley Gardner`s mysterious lawyer, Perry Mason, seems to have been associated, at least temporarily, with the term “legal beagle.” It`s not clear if these three famous fictional Legal Eagles/Beagles are responsible for the emergence and popularization of “Legal Eagle” and “Legal Beagle” in American slang, but I think all three may have played an important role.
We always think of “eagle” when we think of “swoop,” but we don`t often think of “swoop” when we think of “eagle.” The terms mean very similar things: legal competence, stubbornness/dedication, and cunning. Since both terms are usually used jokingly, they can be interpreted in a negative light in the right context, where the usage suggests ridicule because the “legal eagle/beagle” had just made a mistake. But they are also sometimes used unequivocally to express admiration. The above examples suggest that “Legal Eagle” was ubiquitous in the United States. Slang at a time (1944) when “legal beagle” was just coming out of the door – at least as a popular term. But “legal eagle” and “legal beagle” appear at least in some versions of the lyrics of Wildflower, a musical that enjoyed considerable success in the United States and abroad after its debut in 1923. In Wildflower, the character of Gaston La Roche (or Larotta) presents himself as both a brilliant lawyer (a “legal eagle”) and an intelligent detective (a “legal beagle”). BIANCA AND ALBERTO: [sung] We`d better trust the legal eagle. This is the difficult situation that PERRY MASON suddenly finds himself in. But this is just the beginning! Events are rushing like crazy. Now the lady is on trial.
Charged with murder. And guess who their lawyer is. Perry Mason, of course – the “legal beagle” with a list of acquittals as long as D.A. Mason`s face is the only person in the world who believes his client is innocent. So what does the lady do? She FLAMES him! Tom Leidy has been appointed as an attorney with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he practices as an attorney. Dwight Parsons, Legal Eagle of Akron, Ohio, attended the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia.