fun with phrases

[Jonathan Lighter]

"Don't be a stranger!"

This fits under OED 4d, but the stereotyped phrase doesn't appear even once.
 GB finds several in the 19th C., the earliest from 1825.

Interestingly enough, the early exx. are invitations rather than
valedictions, which is the way I usually hear it,

JL

On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 9:28 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: fun with phrases
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Here's another one:
>
> "emotional pressure-cooker" (1957) (Google Books: not verified, looks real)
>
> Not common till the '70s, not mentioned in OED (nor is "pressure-cooker of
> emotion").
>
> JL
>
> On Sun, Sep 18, 2011 at 9:03 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: fun with phrases
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Having spent the past few years comparing the text of literary works to
> the
> > commentary that's grown up around them, I can report that the simple
> > ability
> > to read and process what's on the page can be deficient even among the
> > educated.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Sun, Sep 18, 2011 at 8:38 PM, victor steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com
> > >wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       victor steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject:      Re: fun with phrases
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > Don't tell that to all the Horatio Alger societies--I count three of
> > them,
> > > at least. They all insist on fairly preposterous "self-made" image.
> > >
> > > VS-)
> > >
> > > On Sun, Sep 18, 2011 at 6:47 PM, Jonathan Lighter <
> > wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> > > >wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > > Believe it or not, Alger's heroes all seem to succeed through the
> > > > intervention of rich zillionaires who recognize their worth, rather
> > than
> > > > through "recreating/redefining/re-inventing" themselves or even
> solely
> > > > through hard work.
> > >
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> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
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>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org