[Ads-l] Miscellany

Sat Dec 29 09:15:48 UTC 2018

Excellent citations, Bill. They provide evidence for the metaphorical
use of (break, kicked, knocked) “through the roof” applied to the
voice.

[Begin excerpt of message sent from Bill Mullins]
_Variety_ 14 Oct 1911 p 20 col 4
"She is a principal, one of the three females in the lead, and the
only one who doesn't try to make her voice break through the roof."

_Variety_  4 Mar 1921 p 8 col 1
"Miss Barry has be reviewed in this department so often it need only
be added that she never misses and she has a sense of humor all her
own and more material that answers this description than most
vaudevillians.  She kicked it through the roof Monday afternoon for a
walloping wow."

_Variety_ 18 March 1921 p 16 col 2
"They sat down and knocked 'Home Again Blues' through the roof, both
reaching marvelous climaxes in this number."
[Begin excerpt of message sent from Bill Mullins]

There is a fun citation for the negative metaphorical phrase in 1904:
“never went through the roof”. A poem described an avaricious
character named Ichabod whose tithing was inadequate: "'Twas $5 for
him and 10 cents for the Lord". Thus, his vocalized prayers did not
ascend from Earth to reach the ear of God. His prayers were unable to
go up through the roof.

Date: February 18, 1904
Newspaper: The Evening Journal
Newspaper Location: Ontario, Canada
Article: A Parallel Case (Lewiston, Me. Journal)
Quote Page 4, Column 2
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
His prayers were most strenuous, so were his hymns,
As he beat doubtful time with his disengaged limbs.
I was always impressed that the Lord stood aloof,
And that Ichabod's prayers never went through the roof.
[End excerpt]

Dan Goncharoff wrote:
> "price ceilings" referred to government-imposed maximum prices,
> usually during war time. "Going through the roof" would have been
> illegal.

Thanks for your comment, Dan. Here is a 1942 citation with the phrase
“break through the price ceiling”. So this notion was discussed, and
perhaps it influenced the genesis of the phrase “going through the
roof” for prices, but 1941 is a very late date, and the hypothesis is
weakened by the citations Bill has found.

Date: August 6, 1941
Newspaper: Beatrice Daily Sun
Newspaper Location: Beatrice, Nebraska
Article: Against Inflation
Quote Page 4, Column 1
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
Looming large in production costs is the wage level, if every demand
for more pay is granted by government boards production costs must
rise and break through the price ceiling.
[End excerpt]

There were ceiling prices in 1907 according to the citation below, but
I haven’t been able to find citations in the early 1900s for prices
going through the ceiling.

Date: October 15, 1907
Newspaper: The Northfield News
Newspaper Location: Northfield, Vermont
Article: Press Comment
Quote Page 2, Column 5
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
St. Albans Messenger: With butter soaring at ceiling prices today, it
is interesting to read the reminscences of an old resident of
Fletcher, who tells of being sent to St. Albans when a boy with a lot
of butter to sell. After trying all the stores in town, at the last
one he finally negotiated a sale whereby he parted with his butter at
eight cents a pound and took it out in trade.
[End excerpt]

(The spelling “reminscences” for reminiscences is in the original text.)

> DanG
>
> On Fri, Dec 28, 2018 at 11:03 AM ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > The Oxford English Dictionary has information about the phrase
> > “through the roof” with a first citation in 1946.
> >
> > roof, n.
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > P5. colloq. through the roof.
> >  a. Esp. of bids, prices, sales, etc.: beyond the expected limit, to
> > extreme heights. Chiefly to go through the roof .
> > 1946   E. Hodgins Mr. Blandings builds his Dream House viii. 118   The
> > Knapp sales curves were going through the roof.
> > 1972   Times 24 Oct. 10/3   Only a few special treasures were bid
> > through the roof.
> > 1973   Times 30 Oct. 19/6   On lots that were rare and undamaged they
> > [sc. prices] went through the roof.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Here is an instance of the metaphorical phrase “went through the roof”
> > in the domain of commodity prices in 1925.
> >
> > Date: May 7, 1925
> > Newspaper: The Akron Beacon Journal
> > Newspaper Location: Akron, Ohio
> > Article: Crude Rubber Strikes Peak Price in Years
> > Quote Page 1, Column 6
> > Database: Newspapers.com
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > CRUDE RUBBER STRIKES PEAK PRICE IN YEARS
> > Crude rubber prices went through the roof Thursday morning and as they
> > gave signs of continuing to advance, the market suddenly became
> > completely demoralized, according to White-Seiberling Co., Akron crude
> > rubber brokers.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Why was this metaphor selected? In the price domain I have heard
> > phrases such as “price ceiling” and “price cap”. If the phrase “price
> > ceiling” was established initially then one might talk about “going
> > through the price ceiling” or more emphatically “going through the
> > price roof” or a “price going through the roof”.
> >
> > Yet, I do not know when or why the phrase “price ceiling” entered
> > circulation. Perhaps a graph plot of a constrained price was
> > reminiscent of a ceiling.
> >
> > On Thu, Dec 27, 2018 at 5:19 PM Mark Mandel <mark.a.mandel at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Well, sort of. That use is literal, but I've never taken the idiom to imply
> > > flames, but just "very high" in some metaphorical sense or other:
> > >
> > > - numerical: prices, interest rates, medical readings (blood pressure...),
> > > (dis?)approval ratings...
> > > - emotion: Wilson's enthusiasm example; very commonly anger in a different,
> > > implicit construction ("When she heard about their escapades, the principal
> > > went through the roof")
> > >
> > >
> > > Ah. Cambridge agrees:
> > > https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/go-through-the-roof
> > > :
> > >
> > > - to rise to a very high level:
> > > Prices have gone through the roof.
> > >
> > > - (*also hit the roof , informal*) to get very angry:
> > > When I was expelled from school, my parents went through the roof.
> > >
> > > Mark
> > >
> > >
> > > On Dec 27, 2018 3:43 PM, "Wilson Gray" <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Heard on local news
> > > A fireman says to a reporter,
> > > "By the time we got here, the flames were _through the roof_."
> > > Is this the source of such expressions as:
> > >
> > > When she said yes, I was through the roof!
> > > After she had explained the concept, my enthusiasm was through the roof!
> > > During the concert, the fumes of Teen Spirit were through the roof!
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > -Wilson
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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