rfv
English
Etymology
Although dating back to the early 20th century, the phrase was popularized by w:Al Franken|Al Franken in his book w:Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them|Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them when he describes the negative reaction of w:Paul Wolfowitz|Paul Wolfowitz to one of his jokes.
Verb
en-verb|inf=to kid on the square|kids on the square|kidding on the square|kidded on the square
- To be joking, but at the same time really mean it.
#*1907, Alfred Damon Runyon, "The Defense of Strikerville" in McClure?'s Magazine vol. 28 1, page 379:
#:"I'm kiddin' on the square," said Hanks.
#*1977, Dan Rather and Mickey Herskowitz, The Camera Never Blinks 2, ISBN 0688031846, page 66:
#:So I always knew what Pierce meant, in a kidding-on-the-square kind of way.
#*2006, Stuart Ostrow, Present at the Creation 3, ISBN 1557836469, page 46:
#:"At least he likes historical characters," I kidded on the square. No one laughed so I went to work recruiting other directors.
See also
pedialite|Kidding on the square
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