alphabet soup

[Jonathan Lighter]

I first encountered this sense as applied to the proliferation of new
Federal agencies
during the New Deal.

In other words, decades ago.

JL
On Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 1:23 AM, Paul Frank <paulfrank at post.harvard.edu>wrote:

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> Subject:      alphabet soup
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> The OED says that alphabet soup means "a clear soup containing pieces of
> paste or biscuit shaped like letters of the alphabet," which it does.
> But more often these days, it means something quite different:
>
> Members of the Treasury select committee have expressed their concern at
> an "alphabet soup" of new regulators.
>  FT Adviser, 30 Nov 2010
>
> A Guide to the Alphabet Soup of Fed Bailout Programs‎
>  Wall Street Journal, 1 Dec 2010
>
> The annual celebration of motorcycles and the folks who love to ride
> them boasts an alphabet soup of bikes from BMW to Yamaha and most
> manufacturers in between, as well as stunts from Jason Britton's Team No
> Limit and workshops for riders who like to wrench.
>  LA Times, 16 Dec 2010
>
> Paul
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> Paul Frank
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