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That's what my mom called it, too. So did I until adulthood.
New words enter our lexicon all the time and older ones drop out. Just this weekend I explained to a high school girl what "gate" meant when applied to the latest political scandal. "Watergate" happened long before she was born so she didn't know why "gate" applied to such.
My daughter gave me a book about "speaking retro", which is about using terms (such as Watergate) that may be based on an original meaning that's now obscure.
One of the first examples in the book is the term "going postal". I asked my daughter if she ever heard the term, and she said yes, but she didn't know where it originated. She was born in 1991 and so does not remember the post office shootings of the 1980s.
My daughter gave me a book about "speaking retro", which is about using terms (such as Watergate) that may be based on an original meaning that's now obscure.
One of the first examples in the book is the term "going postal". I asked my daughter if she ever heard the term, and she said yes, but she didn't know where it originated. She was born in 1991 and so does not remember the post office shootings of the 1980s.
"Speaking retro" - now there's some terminology that is new to me. I didn't know there was a definition for what this thread is about. Sounds like an interesting and fun book.
Elderly aunt, telling me to not bother her cat- "Let her be."
That's like the name of a Beatles song too, "Let it Be." People also say, "Leave it be." "Leave her be" would sound more antiquated to me than "Let her be."
That's like the name of a Beatles song too, "Let it Be." People also say, "Leave it be." "Leave her be" would sound more antiquated to me than "Let her be."
Leave it be is an illiteracy as is the the one that I find the most appalling, to wit, telling a dog to lay down.
The curse was sometimes referred to as the blessing.
Going steady could result in getting pinned. (getting to wear your boyfriend's fraternity pin.)
Oh, I remember hearing that expression on the old "Gidget" show!!
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