[Ads-l] Very Slight Antedating of "Flying Saucer" in Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction

[Mark Mandel]

Out of curiosity,* what were the early, different uses of "lunatic fringe",
"tin pan alley", and "software"?

Mark Mandel

* Actually, I am almost never out of curiosity.



On Wed, Apr 6, 2022, 10:21 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:

> It is interesting that "flying saucer" is similar to "lunatic fringe" or
> "tin pan alley" or "software."  In all four cases, there is usage of the
> phrase or word in a different sense than the now-prevalent one and it is
> not clear whether there is a connection between the earlier usage and the
> current one.  "Flying saucer" was first used, I think, to describe targets
> at shooting clubs.
>
> Fred
>

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