Fourth Person?

[Mark Shadle <mshadle@eou.edu>]

possible origins of the fourth person:

10.  in early x-tianity in ethiopia, the holy trinity walked through the
sacred threshhold of the temple. they were followed by a dark figure,
cloaked in black, thought to be the fallen angel, brastogore. his whispered
named translated "fourth person," and was used to scare young children away
from the tantalizing gourd of fermenting goat's blood.

9. the first person to call will receive this barbara streisand action
figure. ok, that person hung up, so the second person to call will receive
this one-of-a-kind plastic replica of barbara as a funny girl. okay, fine.
the second caller didn't want it, or the third, so this is my last offer.
the fourth person to call nmad radio's giant pepsi giveaway will receive
this glow-in-the-dark pink plastic barbara streisand action figure,
complete with crossed eyes. pull the chain and hear her sing "people.
people who eat people..." the fourth person accepted the offer, and ever
since advertisers refer to sweepstakes' winners as "the fourth person."

8. i is first-person. you is second. we is third. them-there is the fourth
person.

7. most lifeboats in victorian england were made for three people.
therefore, the fourth person was the selfish swine who grabbed hold of the
boat and pulled themself in, thereby forcing the rations to run out twice
as fast. it's still common in english pubs to hear a drunken local look up
at a newcomer forcing their way through to the bar as a "bleenin' fourth
person."

6. in the hopi's mysterious fourth world, the lucky fourth person through
the abyss was decorated in pink corn pollen and had to say in a loud voice:
"snake clan members are wussies!"

5. in families with extremely low iq's, counting past three is impossible.
therefore, the "fourth person" is any number past three, whether it's four
or four thousand.

4. in renaissance italy, cathouses referred to the fourth person as the
onlooker in orgies that normally involved only three people.

3. the fourth person is a term developed by rural children playing baseball
in small towns. generally there were three people to a team (pitcher,
catcher and all-round outfielder). therefore, the fourth person was someone
so bad that they were never selected to play, as in: "mark's here: does
anyone need a fourth person?" (heads rapidly shaking horizontally).

2. in medieval france, a baby born was called the first person. two were
the second person. they said third person with three, and called the fourth
baby the fourth person. eventually, this was not thought exotic enough, so
one baby became a newborn, two were twins, three were triplets and four
were quadruplets.

1. the fourth person is an insider term used by people who work at american
drive-in theaters. it refers to the person being smuggled in who can fit
inside the trunk of a volkswagon beetle holding three people inside.

surely one of the above is correct?

best,

mark shadle
eastern oregon university




>
>At 02:54 PM 9/2/98 -0600, you wrote:
>>No news, but a question.  An old friend, a grad student
>>at a different school, e-mailed today syaing she'd been
>>instructed to write a paper using fourth person.  I think
>>I can guess what this means, but does anyone know?
>>Any ideas where the term came from?
>>
>>kevin
>>
>>
>>