A Grade Apart

[Jonathan Lighter]

In my experience, few high-school pupils and college underclassmen know exactly what "grade on _the_ curve" means.  They think it means "give everybody a higher grade." (In fact, this misapprehension is so frequent that it is probably the most common meaning of the phrase.)

  "_A_ curve" follows since the assumption is that you're just boosting grades in some arbitrary way and not according to some specific statistical "curve."

  That's my theory.

  As for "hitting _a_ wall," that just gives you more walls to choose from.

  JL



Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Wilson Gray
Subject: Re: A Grade Apart
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Why have the "grade on _the_ curve" and the "hit _the_ wall" of my
lost youth become "grade on _a_ curve" and " hit _a_ wall"?

-Wilson

On 7/4/07, Doug Harris wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Doug Harris
> Subject: A Grade Apart
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I just spotted the following in The Daily Star (07/03/07),
> Oneonta, NY. (Please note emphasized phrase __xx__ in
> final paragraph):
> Signs against wind gone
>
> By Patricia Breakey
>
> Delhi News Bureau
>
> Signs stating, "Yes to green energy. No to industrial wind in Meredith,"
> have been disappearing from the homes of Alliance for Meredith members,
> residents said Monday.
> Sue Bailey, Alliance spokeswoman, said the signs began to vanish June 23
> when one was taken on Turnpike Road at about 11:30 p.m. The residents "heard
> this low muffler sound that sounded like someone turning around in the
> driveway and then speeding off," she said.
> The next night, she said, a white sedan with a loud muffler and at least two
> passengers __graded a sign__ on Dickman Road at 8:15 p.m.
> -------
> It would appear the writer meant the sign was 'leveled', or knocked down,
> but I can find no reference to such a use of the word 'grade'.
> If this usage DOES have a history, will you please grade me on a curve as
> it's a holiday?
> (the other) doug
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
-Sam'l Clemens

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