God in the deatils (1960); No names, no pack-drill (1930)

[Wilson Gray]

On Jan 25, 2005, at 5:28 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: God in the deatils (1960); No names, no pack-drill
> (1930)
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>
> So "God is in the details" means exactly the opposite.
>
> If there is an opposite.
>
> JL

Good point. The "God" version obviously must mean something like, "Not
bringing an idea to fruition is an easy task."

-Wilson

>
> Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:
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> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Wilson Gray
> Subject: Re: God in the deatils (1960); No names, no pack-drill (1930)
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>
> On Jan 25, 2005, at 2:31 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>> Poster: Jonathan Lighter
>> Subject: Re: God in the deatils (1960); No names, no pack-drill
>> (1930)
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>> -
>> --------
>>
>> The version with "devil" is so common that the "God" version becomes
>> much more fascinating.
>>
>> JL
>
> But what does it mean? I've always assumed that the "devil" version
> means something like, "a good opening sentence, in and of itself, does
> not the Great American Novel make." I.e., bringing an idea to fruition
> is no easy task.
>
> -Wilson
>
>>
>> "Mark A. Mandel" wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>> Poster: "Mark A. Mandel"
>> Subject: Re: God in the deatils (1960); No names, no pack-drill (1930)
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>> -
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>>
>> I don't see any mention in this thread of "The devil is in the
>> details",
>> which I think I have seen at least as often.
>>
>> -- Mark
>> [This text prepared with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.]
>>
>>
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