<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
The direct meaning of either is not in dispute and both have a
fairly complete OED coverage. What the OED is missing, however, is
the figurative usage.<br>
<br>
From last night:<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report/_/id/341655?cc=5901">http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report/_/id/341655?cc=5901</a><br>
<blockquote type="cite">Boss Sam Allardyce vowed to take the club
back to what he calls the Promised Land at the first attempt
following last season's relegation, and he was as good as his word
as his side saw off Ian Holloway's play-off specialists.</blockquote>
<br>
A lot of the "Promised Land" usage comes from sports--the metaphor
appears to be particularly popular in English football--but it's by
no means limited in scope. "Holy Grail" seems to be more common in
academic references.<br>
<br>
Other, just from the past week (plus a couple of extras):<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/xA0Dc">http://goo.gl/xA0Dc</a><br>
The holy grail of leadership<br>
<blockquote type="cite">That's the Holy Grail of leadership -- when
the leader and the led blur together so that one is the other.
This is the moment when the leader is the walking embodiment of
the brand and the company. </blockquote>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/wdbVm">http://goo.gl/wdbVm</a><br>
The Holy Grail of Smackdowns<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/QesCM">http://goo.gl/QesCM</a><br>
Search still on for 'holy grail' of hurricane forecasting<br>
<blockquote type="cite">Bill Read, the top U.S. hurricane forecaster
for the last 4-1/2 years, says researchers may be edging closer to
finding the "holy grail" of hurricane forecasting.<br>
...<br>
"That's still the holy grail if you will in hurricane forecast
research, to try to capture those rapid changes in intensity,"
Read told Reuters.<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/nRlhU">http://goo.gl/nRlhU</a><br>
Obama's team of tech gurus to unleash 'Holy Grail' of digital
campaigning<br>
<blockquote type="cite">The new tool, called Dashboard, is being
seen as the possible Holy Grail of digital political organising,
one that has eluded campaign chiefs for years. It is already being
road-tested in several of the crucial swing states that Obama must
hold onto if he is to remain in office.<br>
...<br>
"The Holy Grail for political organisers is the ability to see
what impact you are having as you go door to door," said Eli
Pariser, former director of the liberal campaigning website
Moveon.org and CEO of the new sharing site Upworthy. "If Dashboard
works as billed, it will import into politics the kind of feedback
loops we are familiar with from Facebook and online games."<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/lI6nr">http://goo.gl/lI6nr</a><br>
'Holy Grail' of football cards discovered by West Michigan family
nets $10,950 at auction<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/YF8wV">http://goo.gl/YF8wV</a><br>
Visiting the Frugal Promised Land: Business Class<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/xxdC3">http://goo.gl/xxdC3</a><br>
Cannes: the 'promised land' for Asian filmmakers<br>
<blockquote type="cite">But Asian film industry insiders say the
festival remains the "promised land' for the region's filmmakers,
due to the amount of attention the event gets both from inside and
outside the international filmmaking community.</blockquote>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/WRdMU">http://goo.gl/WRdMU</a><br>
Drogba's dink leads Chelsea into promised land<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/kLtQb">http://goo.gl/kLtQb</a><br>
<blockquote type="cite">But is Ovechkin ever going to lead the
Capitals to the Promised Land? People who know Ovie say he now
looks overwhelmed by the expectations and the series of playoff
losses that are wearing him down. It doesn’t look like the sheer
joy of playing the game is there any longer.</blockquote>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/tpXlh">http://goo.gl/tpXlh</a><br>
Southampton 4-0 Coventry: Saints win promotion to promised land <br>
<blockquote type="cite">Billy Sharp triumphal procession into the
promised land with Southampton is a happy ending for all of
football to celebrate.</blockquote>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/lqxAd">http://goo.gl/lqxAd</a><br>
Chippa boss: We’re close to the 'Promised Land'<br>
<blockquote type="cite">
Chippa United boss Chippa Mpengesi said he belives his team is
close to the 'Promised Land' as they enter the most fragile stag
of their NFD campaign.
<br>
Their victory against Blackburn Rovers put them in line for a spot
in the Promotional Play-offs.<br>
...<br>
"Very, very happy, it's taken us close to the promised land. To
come straight from the Vodacom (Second Division) to where we are
now, it's a wonderful feeling of achievement. Our boys played very
well, we stuck to our game-plan and we were very professional."<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/8syOe">http://goo.gl/8syOe</a><br>
Promised Land<br>
Once a utopia for Socialist visionaries, century-old Llano Del Rio
is now just dust in the High Desert wind<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/mbjjm">http://goo.gl/mbjjm</a><br>
Drogba leads Chelsea and Abramovich to the promised land <br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/7D2sM">http://goo.gl/7D2sM</a><br>
Alan Pardew: Promised land is awaiting Newcastle<br>
<blockquote type="cite">ALAN PARDEW has urged Newcastle United to
remain "on the road" to football’s promised land.</blockquote>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/yynTc">http://goo.gl/yynTc</a><br>
THE PROMISED LAND<br>
<blockquote type="cite">"My teammates and this organization, they
really stood behind me," said Bowles. "They never questioned my
game and they told me they’re going to ride me and take us to the
Promised Land and I’m just glad I was given the opportunity to
take us to the championship."</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/kJzt1">http://goo.gl/kJzt1</a><br>
Promised land on offer for four clubs<br>
<blockquote type="cite">As the Championship play-offs begin in
earnest, the most quoted figure in the days to come is not hard to
predict. The eventual winner of promotion in the forthcoming
four-team scrap stands to bank up to $100m in increased television
rights share and associated commercial revenue for reaching the
promised land of the Premier League.</blockquote>
<br>
With respect to the last one, note a later post, as a follow-up:<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/WsZrh">http://goo.gl/WsZrh</a><br>
PL return in sight for Saints and Hammers<br>
<br>
That "PL" in the title is that same previously identified "Promised
Land".<br>
<br>
<br>
A somewhat "in-between" use--an extension of the original, but not
really figurative:<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/Cx0t5">http://goo.gl/Cx0t5</a><br>
<blockquote type="cite">"He is an unabashed, unapologetic believer
that America is the Promised Land."</blockquote>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/Zx7So">http://goo.gl/Zx7So</a><br>
Rastafarians face hardship in Ethiopian 'promised land'<br>
<blockquote type="cite">That trip prompted an influx of Jamaican
Rastafarians to the Horn of Africa state, which they believe is
their promised land.<br>
...<br>
"This is the promised land, this is where God is born," said Ab.<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Just for kicks, I searched Barry Popik's site and got these
(original sites unverified):<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/0MfSc">http://goo.gl/0MfSc</a> (original <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/OMRPH">http://goo.gl/OMRPH</a> )<br>
<blockquote type="cite">There is peace inside this modest building,
and a connection to a rural past that still holds Texans in its
mythic sway, however urban we have become. That connection, more
than anything, is the holy grail, the reason that we drive forth
in search of barbecue.
</blockquote>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/G4KNe">http://goo.gl/G4KNe</a> (original <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/ZUN7u">http://goo.gl/ZUN7u</a> ) <br>
<blockquote type="cite">That's precisely what makes it something of
a holy grail for Trader Vic's devotees -- most of them longtime
Dallasites with sentimental ties to the original nightspot. </blockquote>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/4is7K">http://goo.gl/4is7K</a> (original <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/wwJid">http://goo.gl/wwJid</a> )<br>
<blockquote type="cite">And they want the holy grail of grilling --
to know how to make a simple, tender grilled hamburger rather than
a charred hockey puck.
</blockquote>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/dv2Vz">http://goo.gl/dv2Vz</a><br>
<blockquote type="cite">> Read and paper trade, then jump in and
learn how to deal with losing <br>
> real money. Learn to trade what you see and react to the
markets, <br>
> don't try to forecast. Don’t go in search of the "Holy
Grail", it’s <br>
> not out there.
</blockquote>
<br>
The last one is interesting because it illustrates a somewhat
different meaning from all the others--the arguably unachievable in
the abstract.<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/tnM0k">http://goo.gl/tnM0k</a><br>
[from DARE]<br>
<blockquote type="cite">1977 Smitherton 258 [Black], , any place
south of the Mason-Dixon line; conceptually, suggests place of
psychological peace and nitty-gritty blackness; <i>down home</i>
began to be particularly longed for after the vast urban migration
of blacks to the "promised lands" of Northern Black Bottoms.
</blockquote>
<br>
[this one in original meaning, sort of]<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/dMrBH">http://goo.gl/dMrBH</a> (original <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/3fr1S">http://goo.gl/3fr1S</a> )<br>
<blockquote type="cite">'Cause God blessed Texas with His own hand
<br>
Brought down angels from the promised land
<br>
Gave ‘em a place where they could dance
<br>
If you wanna see heaven brother here’s your chance
<br>
I've been sent to spread the message
<br>
God blessed Texas
</blockquote>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/tlfb1">http://goo.gl/tlfb1</a> (original <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/kxXYn">http://goo.gl/kxXYn</a> )<br>
<blockquote type="cite">Subject: Texodus
<br>
<br>
Has anyone coined this term yet, the mass migration of poor New
Orleanians coming to the promised land? Seems inevitable. </blockquote>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/ah4Xg">http://goo.gl/ah4Xg</a><br>
[From OED and from DARE]<br>
<blockquote type="cite">1867 J. F. MELINE <i>Two Thousand Miles on
Horseback</i> 22 The term Pilgrims for emigrants first came into
use at the period of the heavy Mormon travelthe Mormons styling
themselves 'Pilgrims to the promised land of Utah'.</blockquote>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/ENXWM">http://goo.gl/ENXWM</a><br>
[From OED]<br>
<blockquote type="cite">1920 <i>Blackw. Mag.</i> Aug. 146/1 The
'colyumist' of a New York paper. 1925 <i>Lit. Digest</i> (N.Y.)
27 June 27/2 Here is a Vashti leading the opprest columnist into
the promised land of intellectual liberty.</blockquote>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/rQKUd">http://goo.gl/rQKUd</a> (Original <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/7bt1I">http://goo.gl/7bt1I</a> )<br>
<blockquote type="cite">"Once you enter Brooklyn, there's no good
reason why you should ever leave," Borough President Markowitz
said. "These signs are just another great example of the Brooklyn
attitude, and they capture the spirit, energy and enthusiasm alive
and well all across Brooklyn. It also gives people one last chance
to turn their cars around and stay in the promised land."</blockquote>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/RRVHl">http://goo.gl/RRVHl</a><br>
[From 11 July 2005, New York <i>Observer</i>]<br>
<blockquote type="cite">But in recent years, Murray Hill has been
all but glitz-bombed from existence as a horde of coddled
post-collegians, armed with marketing jobs and U. Penn diplomas,
has swarmed into the neighborhood. For these kids, who are almost
all white, almost all affluent, living on "the Hill" has become a
rite of passage, like, say, getting a car for their 16th birthday.
Drawn by the leafy streets and 30-story mega-buildings, they have
turned the area into their own pseudo-urban Promised Land. And
they keep coming. </blockquote>
<br>
<br>
VS-)<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</body>
</html>
------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org