"My children are in the service"

[Dale Coye]

In a message dated 08/11/2001 6:49:02 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
douglas at NB.NET writes:


> Doug Wilson wrote:

for as long as I can remember
> "in the service" used without any modifier means "in the Armed Forces", and
> I don't know of a difference between African-American and
> any-other-American usage here.
>


I'm with Doug...I'm amazed that this phrase is unknown to some these days. I
guess it fell out of fashion at some point...kinda like dungarees.   But "in
the service was certainly used in the North too.

Dale Coye
The College of NJ




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