the big picture

[Jonathan Lighter]

Neither is recorded before the 1940s, according to OED.  My own research is consistent with the OED's findings.

JL

neil <neil at TYPOG.CO.UK> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: neil
Subject: the big picture
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OK, so what's so difficult that fellow logophiles can't help someone out who
has no online access to serious dictionaries to find out the earliest
reference to 'the big picture' or 'looney bin'?

Is it because I email from the UK and you are the ADS?

Hey, c'mon! I wade through 150 of your emails each weekend just to see if
there's anything relevant to my topic (sexual slang).

-Neil Crawford

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