pass out

[Mark A Mandel]

On Fri, 2 Aug 2002, Duane Campbell wrote:

#On Fri, 2 Aug 2002 08:52:03 -0400 Mark A Mandel
#> What else does "pass out" mean, other than 'lose consciousness'?
#
#Those of us who have reached a certain maturity, where we remember 1952
#better than Wednesday, may recall an act that played on the Toast of the
#Town called The Passing Out Ceremony. It involved a Brit who did a lot of
#jumping around on chairs and drinking. He explained that "passing out"
#referred to passing out of school, i.e., being graduated, not losing
#consciousness from over imbibing, though as the act progressed it became
#clear that that meaning was also involved.

All right. Thank you; you have taught me something I didn't know before.
(But, of course, it has nothing to do with American English or the
article in question.)

-- Mark M.