What goes around comes around

Posted by Smokey Stover on August 24, 2007

In Reply to: What goes around comes around posted by Anonymous on August 24, 2007

: To the best of my knowledge the phrase "What goes around comes around" was coined in the summer of 1970, in San Diego California. It was the result of a pure vocalization formed by a former Green Beret with the initials GEG, who was experiencing an epiphany of sorts, after returning from almost three years in a combat environment and going through a physical purification after several months of self induced drug experimentation. during a peek high he was looking for something other then the phrase "karma" to express the enlightenment, this original abstract thought came to mind naturally. In the room at the time were several fellow associates from New York, Los Angeles and San Diego, all of whom immediately grasped upon the expression and it spread rapidly, to be used many times again. If anyone can show this expression in print prior to that date, it would disprove this origin, but none has been produced.

Your explanation is plausible. If you have any more definite corroboration in print, or in a statement by GEG, it would help persuade lexicographers (of which I'm not one) to identify this as the source of the phrase. Many phrases and neologisms go incorrectly identified, even incorrectly spelled in some cases, because of the difficulty of corroboration.
SS