(back) in the day

[Benjamin Barrett]

> From: American Dialect Society
> [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf Of Margaret Lee
>
> I've found that African American students use it
> primarily in terms
> of historical references, particularly as they relate to
> civil rights
> struggles, great acomplishments, etc., before or soon
> after they were
> born. For example, "My grandfather said that he worked for
> twenty-five cents an hour back in the day." I've also
> heard it used
> as a gesture of respect that today's hip-hop artists,
> dee-jays, etc.
> give to the work of early rap music founders of the late 70's and
> early 80's.

This is the context I normally hear it for, but I also received this
reponse:

I would have to say that "back in the day" is used when reminiscing.
It
could be a few years it could be longer.  I don't think that I have
heard of
"back in the day" with anything less than 2 years.  I think that 2
years is
the cutoff point to when it will actually make sense.  If you say
"back in
the day" and it was yesterday, last month, or last year, then it
seems to
invalidate the time associated with "back in the day."

> --- I wrote:
> > Does the expression back in the day just mean a long
> time ago and
> > is
> > there a specific amount of time that has to have passed to be in
> > the
> > day?
> >
> > Benjamin Barrett