[Ads-l] awesome sauce!

Dan Goncharoff thegonch at GMAIL.COM
Fri Apr 24 17:41:33 UTC 2015


http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/whats_the_story_jerry_jge_forget_about_it_tops_appliance_city

DanG

On Fri, Apr 24, 2015 at 9:37 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: awesome sauce!
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> That was Paul Johnston, not me.  I've never heard anyone use "What's your
> story?" as a greeting.
>
> However, back in the '70s there was a frequently aired TV commercial for a
> local merchant (perhaps of electronics) whose pitchman was a burly
> construction-worker type in a hard hat. The commercials would begin with a
> chorus of strongly accented N'Yawkers inquiring, "Hey, Charlie! What's the
> story???"
>
> Charlie would give his spiel about low prices, always ending with "And
> that's the story!"
>
> More recently, UrbanD (2003) informs us that "What's the story[?]" is
> "Irish slang for 'Hello'."
>
> Cf. "What's buzzin', cousin?"  In 1973 I heard, "What's the latest and the
> greatest?"
>
> Whatever its origin, the phrase  "What's you story, morning glory?' was
> popularized by the tune of that name, by Paul Webster & M. L. Williams,
> crt. Oct. 27, 1938.
>
>
> JL
>
> On Thu, Apr 23, 2015 at 10:46 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: awesome sauce!
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > On Tue, Apr 21, 2015 at 7:58 AM, Jonathan Lighter <
> wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > His usual greeting to people was "What's your story?"
> >
> >
> > "What's your story, morning glory?" has probably around since the '20's.
> My
> > mother was familiar with it and it can still be heard, today. OTOH,
> simple
> > "What's your story?" is a new one on me.
> >
> >
> > --
> > -Wilson
> > -----
> > 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.
> > -Mark Twain
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
> "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
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