E for Effort (1940)

[James Smith]

Back in the 50's and 60's, it was "e" for "excellent",
with tongue in cheek, of course.


--- Wilson Gray <hwgray at EARTHLINK.NET> wrote:
> How old are you? I'm nearly 70 and it's "E for
> effort" that I recall
> from my elementary-school years in the early '40's.
> "A for effort"
> feels like a hypercorrection, as you imply when you
> say that "'A' is
> easier to understand."
>
> -Wilson Gray
>
> On May 3, 2004, at 11:17 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society
> <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Benjamin Barrett
> <bjb5 at U.WASHINGTON.EDU>
> > Subject:      Re: E for Effort (1940)
> >
>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --------
> >
> > Thank you for this interesting history, Barry.
> >
> > I've heard that version, but I more commonly hear,
> and I use "A for
> > effort". When I hear "E", I always wonder if it's
> a failing grade, so
> > the
> > "A" is easier to understand.
> >
> > Benjamin Barrett
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: American Dialect Society
> [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]
> >>
> >> E FOR EFFORT--3,270 Google hits, 2,120 Google
> Groups hits
> >>
> >>  Who grades with this letter?
> >>  Not in OED, HDAS, CASSELL DICTIONARY OF SLANG?
> >>  Was this coined by Bing Crosby in ROAD TO
> SINGAPORE?
> >

=====
James D. SMITH                 |If history teaches anything
South SLC, UT                  |it is that we will be sued
jsmithjamessmith at yahoo.com     |whether we act quickly and decisively
                               |or slowly and cautiously.




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