Out of Pocket

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Sat Oct 25 15:00:40 UTC 2008


At 4:04 AM -0400 10/25/08, Wilson Gray wrote:
>I've always assumed that "in the wind" was merely BE slang clipped
>from '50's _get in the wind_ "leave, go." It was "standard" in Saint
>Louis in the 'Fit-tizz. NYPD cops use it, too, according to the
>writers of LawNOrder. I'm totally unfamiliar with "in the air," except
>as a clip of "In The Air Tonight." You know: that song by that guy?
>
Aha!  So "in the wind" is general cop slang, or at least
fictionalized cop slang.  The derivation from _get in the wind_
sounds plausible enough.  Thanks.

LH

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