“There is no such thing as a little garlic”

“There is o such thing as a little garlic” is a saying similar to “there is no such thing as being a little pregnant”—something either has garlic or it doesn’t have it. “There’s no such thing as a little garlic” was cited by several newspapers in April 1922. The saying is sometimes credited to the “New York Day by Day” columnist O. O. McIntyre (1884-1938), but it’s not clear if he ever used it. The saying is more often credited to the New York syndicated humor columnist Arthur “Bugs” Baer (1886-1969), but it doesn’t appear that he used the saying before 1943.
     
 
The Quote Garden
Quotations about Food
There is no such thing as a little garlic.  ~A. Baer
 
21 November 1921, Riverside (CA) Enterprise, “This Funny World,” pg. 4, col. 2:
A little garlic
Now and then
is relished by
The best of men;
And he who eats
And stays away,
May live to eat
Another day.
 
Google Books
April 1922, Poultry Tribune, pg. 86, col. 1:
You Said a Mouthful.
“Very distinguished, isn’t he? But, d’you know, I think I noticed a little garlic about him.”
“My dear young lady, there’s no such thing as a little garlic.”
   
14 April 1922, Duluth (MN) News-Tribune, pg. 6, col. 4:
YOU SAID A MOUTHFUL. 
“Very distinguished, isn’t he? But, d’you know, I think I noticed a little garlic about him.”
“My dear young lady, there’s no such thing as a little garlic.”
 
Google News Archive
27 January 1923, Border Cities Star (Windsor, Ontario), “Starbeams,” pg. 4, col. 3:
Whoever said there is no such thing as a little garlic said a mouthful.
 
13 June 1943, Sunday World-Herald Magazine (Omaha, NE), “Answers to Victory Gardeners” by Arthur “Bugs” Baer, pg. 28C, col. 1:
Anxious—There is no such thing as a little garlic.
 
3 February 1945, Lowell (MA) Sun, “One Word Led to Another” by Arthur “Bugs” Baer, pg. 10, col. 3:
We know that only a game sardine swims up-cap, that there is no such thing as a little garlic and you will never get rich with another man counting your money.