Contemporary slang bites the big one

[Wilson Gray]

Y'all, I'm talking about the full phrase, "_bite the big one_," not about
the single word, "bite." My intuitions and experiences WRT "bite," as in,
"Reality bites," are the same as yours. My niece wrote, "Our main computer
_bit the big one_" and not simply "Our main computer
bit." If she had written the
latter, I'd still be trying to figure out what she meant. Does "Our main
computer bit" mean anything to y'all?

Thanks to HDAS, it's now clear to me that she meant by " ... bit the big
one"
merely, "...died," an impossible meaning in the military slang of
1959. I regret that
my post was so unclear. That must really bite for y'all. ;-) But, does it
bite the big one? ;-)

-Wilson


On 5/13/06, Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com> wrote:
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Contemporary slang bites the big one
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Sat, May 13, 2006 at 06:30:54PM -0400, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
> > On 5/13/06, Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com> wrote:
> > >
> > >On Sat, May 13, 2006 at 05:58:47PM -0400, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
> > >>  *That really bit.
> > >
> > >This is non-asterisked in my idiolect.
> >
> > Well, perhaps it deserves a question mark if not an asterisk. I see
> > HDAS has a relevant cite from 1978 ("Door-to-door really bit on a cold
> > day").
>
> Here are two more from our files:
>
> 1998 Time Out N.Y. 31 Dec. 86/1 I'm told the book on which it
> was based, _A Prayer for Owen Meany,_ was quite good. Well, the
> movie bit. I cut out early.
>
> 2002 Washington Post (Home ed.) 18 Jan. C8/2 Your
> attitude..was, and is, brilliant, clap clap clap. But your
> delivery totally bit.
>
> Jesse Sheidlower
> OED
>
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