carry the message to Garcia

English

WOTD – 2 December 2007

Alternative forms

• deliver the message to Garcia

Etymology

Paraphrase of a quotation from an 1899 essay, "A Message to Garcia", concerning Calixto García.

Pronunciation

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• Rhymes: -iːə

Verb

carry the message to Garcia (third-person singular simple present carries the message to Garcia, present participle carrying the message to Garcia, simple past and past participle carried the message to Garcia)

1. (intransitive, dated) To perform a requisite task despite obstacles.
   • 1922, David Starr Jordan, The Days of a Man: Being Memories of a Naturalist, Teacher, and Minor Prophet of Democracy, World Book Co., page 148,

     ... its demand being for men who could face difficult decisions and achieve results, who could "carry the message to Garcia" without delay or dallying.

   • 1954, National Association of Training Schools, The Proceedings, page 15:

     ...determined to always carry the message to Garcia, irrespective of adverse conditions and circumstances.

2. (intransitive, dated) To perform a requisite task without having been informed specifically by what method to do so.
   • 1932, William Carl Ruediger, Teaching Procedures, Houghton Mifflin Company, page 410,

     ...do it when you are told once. That is to say, carry the Message to Garcia!

   • 2005, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The Mad Cook of Pymatuning: A Novel, Simon and Schuster, page 30,

     "And leaders will emerge. Men who can take the initiative, carry the message to Garcia. That's what I want." [The character in the novel said these words in 1952.]