When Did "One Off" Take Off?

[Iconoclast]

Doesn't the Diary's provenance make it 99.999999999999999999999999999999999999999 per cent likely that it's a hoax?

To be clear, dear readers, the scrapbook has no provenance yet because its origins remain unconfirmed.

There are claims and counter-claims, evidence which might answer the question, and testimonies which thoroughly contradict one another.

What we do not yet have is the proven provenance.

[John Wheat]

To be clear, dear readers, the scrapbook has no provenance yet because its origins remain unconfirmed.

There are claims and counter-claims, evidence which might answer the question, and testimonies which thoroughly contradict one another.

What we do not yet have is the proven provenance.

A load of rubbish. I stand by what I've said.

[Lombro2]

Here's a wider timeline based on British sources.
So using the term makes it very likely, but not certain, that the diary was a hoax.

Okay, that seems like a fair comeback. That backs up the other Michael B's point.

But I still say, No. The British examples from prior to 1990 are largely from books on manufacturing, Hansard, and Glasgow newspapers. They would still represent a fraction of a fraction or .0000004% of British English books. And we're not talking fiction books. Again, the term only took off in fiction and therefore the popular print in 2000.




Unless you have specialized interests or knowledge or run with the right crowd, who would know this term in 1992? I was there in 1992. I read Shirley Harrison in 1993. I live in a Commonwealth country and I wouldn't know the term meant something unique or a one-shot deal unless Shirley Harrison explained it.

The other Michael B heard the term but he said he worked in a foundry. Caz knew the term, whenever she read the Diary book, and she said she had an uncle in a foundry who used the term. Why would they have to mention that if the term was popular?

Michael Barrett would have had to have specialized knowledge and then he probably would have had to coin the term "one off instance" himself. But he's a genius and a Liverpudlian. What can I say?

[Lombro2]

I don't believe shifting the onus, changing the subject, or misrepresentation. But since, we're on the subject...

What we do not yet have is the proven provenance.

Okay, okay, Ike. We're working on it.

One day, I'm sure, we'll find that man with the Liverpool accent who sold Stewart the watch in the 60s, and the bill of sale, and we'll find that Outhwaite auction ticket and the auction house inventory with the Diary described perfectly--

"Vintage Edwardian notebook used as a photo album with some maritime photos and postcards and at least 60 blank pages, some staining on the inside cover. Lot includes a one-off square compass."

[John Wheat]

I don't believe shifting the onus, changing the subject, or misrepresentation. But since, we're on the subject...


Okay, okay, Ike. We're working on it.

One day, I'm sure, we'll find that man with the Liverpool accent who sold Stewart the watch in the 60s, and the bill of sale, and we'll find that Outhwaite auction ticket and the auction house inventory with the Diary described perfectly--

"Vintage Edwardian notebook used as a photo album with some maritime photos and postcards and at least 60 blank pages, some staining on the inside cover. Lot includes a one-off square compass."

Rubbish. The Diary is a hoax. Most likely written by Anne and Mike Barrett.

[Iconoclast]

Okay, okay, Ike. We're working on it.

I will be genuinely gobsmacked the day the receipt appears or any other concrete evidence of a hoax emerges. I will also be relieved as I've been at this for almost thirty years and it is repetitive and boring but I won't be going anywhere until the case is proven beyond doubt either way.

PS Did you laugh too when your comment was called 'Rubbish' by someone who actually agrees with you?

[erobitha]

I'm not sure that many people on here have actually looked beyond the superficial, but the evidence provided by Mike over the years for it either being genuine or a hoax have been as poor as each other.

Mike's affidavit of 1995 claims he and Anne came up with the idea with Tony D in January 1990. He also claims that was the time Anne purchased the small red diary. We know that isn't true. The small red diary was advertised for in March 1992. He also fails to explain why he and Anne sits on it for almost a year after Tony's death. We don't even have to get as far as the phantom auction and lack of any physical evidence before we can see this is all mince.

Then we have his will, where he goes to great lengths to try to protect his transcript copyright. If the diary is a hoax, then the transcript copyright is pointless, isn't it?

Those quick to label Mike and Anne as the forgers, have no idea the nuances of this case. Otherwise, they would clearly see what Ike and I see.

Mike was a liar yes, a forger no.

[John Wheat]

I'm not sure that many people on here have actually looked beyond the superficial, but the evidence provided by Mike over the years for it either being genuine or a hoax have been as poor as each other.

Mike's affidavit of 1995 claims he and Anne came up with the idea with Tony D in January 1990. He also claims that was the time Anne purchased the small red diary. We know that isn't true. The small red diary was advertised for in March 1992. He also fails to explain why he and Anne sits on it for almost a year after Tony's death. We don't even have to get as far as the phantom auction and lack of any physical evidence before we can see this is all mince.

Then we have his will, where he goes to great lengths to try to protect his transcript copyright. If the diary is a hoax, then the transcript copyright is pointless, isn't it?

Those quick to label Mike and Anne as the forgers, have no idea the nuances of this case. Otherwise, they would clearly see what Ike and I see.

Mike was a liar yes, a forger no.

Rubbish Anne and Mike Barrett are odds on for having written the Diary.

[erobitha]

Rubbish Anne and Mike Barrett are odds on for having written the Diary.

We are all waiting with bated breath that maybe one day you will write something that amounts to some kind of actual counter argument.

I've decided to release my breath a long time ago on that score.

If you have a genuine medical condition of some kind, like tourettes, for example, that excuses why you only ever post one-liners repeating the same old message over and over, then I am sorry for any offence my words might have caused.

If you don't, then carry on barking in the dark. I'll just ignore you moving forward.