mornin' kids!

gran likes her new mailbox at www.myway.com but wonders where the
phrase "my way or the highway" was first used.  was it a movie line?

any light you can shed will be most appreciated.

very gratefully yours,
GB

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Request for Question Clarification by answerfinder-ga on 01 Jul 2003 07:44 PDT

Dear badabing-ga 
The question is now nearing expiry. Would you accept my 1976 reference
as an answer?
answerfinder-ga

---

Clarification of Question by badabing-ga on 01 Jul 2003 12:02 PDT

sure, answerfinder, post away.  I think I owe you from a previous
answer anyway.  weird how our bias wants these quotes to come from
certain people that we know/admire (Vince Lombardi) and maybe not
quite from others (Rev. Barry Manilow).  gran's willing to accept your
"John G. McMillian" being _one_ of the first to use this expression.

Dear badabing, 

Thank you for allowing me to post this as an answer. Sorry I couldn't
go further back in time than 1976.

This is the text of my original comment:

This one may be lost in the depths of time. Bill Parcells,  Dallas
Cowboys coach, is attributed in one article as coining the phrase.
Certainly a search on "my way or the highway" "Parcells" shows it is
his style of management but whether the article is accurate is another
matter.
 
“Parcells will cut players and motivate with a just but iron fist. My
way or the highway is a term coined by Parcells.”
http://cowboys.theinsiders.com/2/84675.html 
 
I looked on LexisNexis newspaper archive and the earliest reference I
found was from Business Week, September 6, 1976, Industrial Edition,
in an article on Northwest Energy's bid to move Alaskan gas.
Northwest's chairman, John G. McMillian said an interview "Around
here, it's my way or the highway."

Many thanks
answerfinder-ga

Search strategy
LexisNexis and on Google "my way or the highway" with variations of
dates and decades.

"my way or the highway" "Parcells" 
://www.google.com/search?q=%22my+way+or+the+highway%22+%22Parcells%22&btnG=Google+Search&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

thanks very much, answerfinder.  I know this was really difficult
research and hard to verify for the price I was offering.  appreciate
everyone's efforts.  you guys are the best researchers around!

"first used" is going to be hard, I think.


The line appeared in the first Matrix movie, 1999.
Also in _Road House_, 1989.

Hello badabing,

It can also be heard in Reservoir Dogs.


Quentin Tarantino
"There’s two ways you can go on this job: my way or the highway."
http://www.bartleby.com/66/25/57125.html

badabing,
This one may be lost in the depths of time. Bill Parcells,  Dallas
Cowboys coach, is attributed in one article as coining the phrase.
Certainly a search on "my way or the highway" "Parcells" shows it is
his style of management but whether the article is accurate is another
matter.

“Parcells will cut players and motivate with a just but iron fist. My
way or the highway is a term coined by Parcells.”
http://cowboys.theinsiders.com/2/84675.html

I looked on LexisNexis newspaper archive and the earliest reference I
found was from Business Week, September 6, 1976, Industrial Edition,
in an article on Northwest Energy's bid to move Alaskan gas.
Northwest's chairman, John G. McMillian said an interview "Around
here, it's my way or the highway."

I’ll leave this as a comment for the moment in case another researcher
finds an earlier date.
 
answerfinder-ga

"my way or the highway" "Parcells"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22my+way+or+the+highway%22+%22Parcells%22&btnG=Google+Search&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Or is it
My way, the highway?
Or even
... my way, take the highway...

- because if so, 
If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way, the highway, that's the best,
Get your kicks on Route 66.
<http://www.route66.com/music/song.html>

If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way, take the highway that's the best,
Get your kicks on Route 66.
<http://azjournal.com/route66.htm>

I think the second version makes better sense, but it's even further
away from gran's quotation.  Whichever, it's slightly different
versions of the same song.

I remember it when the Rolling Stones released it in the 60s, but a
Google search for the lyrics (search: "get your kicks on route 66"
shows both sites attribute it to Bobby Troup, recorded in 1946.

IF this is the correct quotation, then 1946 is the date to beat. If
I'm on the wrong track here, then sorry - but thanks for getting my
toes tapping, great song! r2l

hello everyone,

r2l, that's an interesting theory on the genesis of this phrase, but I
think I'd like to stick the "ultimatum" essence of the phrase which
may indeed be business related.  so far answerfinder-ga has the date
to beat with 1976.  I appreciate that everyone's been such good sports
in leaving the question open in case someone finds anything further
back.  sorry this one has been a toughie.  gran will try and comp you
a decent bonus.  thanks for all your hard work.

Looks like '76 might be it.  Anything older that I've found has been a
false positive so far, and I've come across the '76 reference several
times.

Former Detroit Tigers coach Sparky Anderson was apparently fond of
this phrase in the 1970s:

://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22sparky+anderson%22+%22my+way+or+the+highway

Also attributed to Vince Lombardi, who died in 1970:

Vince Lombardi was a consummate motivator. He understood that there
are basically two kinds of motivation: restrictive and constructive.
Restrictive motivation is "I have to do it or else. "I have to do it
or else I will be punished, ridiculed or embarrassed. "Do it or else"
is a good way to get people to move, short term. And my father was a
master of restrictive motivation. With his players it was, "My way or
the highway" or "If you can't get the job done I'll find somebody else
who can."

http://www.reconnectingiowans.org/training/quality_tips/quality_tips_future_coach.htm

...or Barry Minkow:

Here is Barry Minkow laying down his famous ultimatum ("My way or the
highway")

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0071357343/ref%3Dbr%5Flf%5Fli%5F1%5F2/026-0348942-7486055

badabing-ga,
Many thanks for tip.
answerfinder-ga