A Grade Apart

[Laurence Horn]

>Why have the "grade on _the_ curve" and the "hit _the_ wall" of my
>lost youth become "grade on _a_ curve" and " hit _a_ wall"?
>
>-Wilson

I'm not sure the latter fact is a fact, and the various web resources
at hand bear that out--it's more like 50-50 for "hit {the/a} wall".
The former has definitely become "grade on a curve"; maybe it's used
too infrequently for the "the", or maybe there are many possible and
distinct curves on which one may grade, while it doesn't really
matter which wall one hits.

LH

>
>On 7/4/07, Doug Harris <cats22 at frontiernet.net> wrote:
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Doug Harris <cats22 at FRONTIERNET.NET>
>>Subject:      A Grade Apart
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>I just spotted the following in The Daily Star (07/03/07),
>>Oneonta, NY. (Please note emphasized phrase __xx__  in
>>final paragraph):
>>Signs against wind gone
>>
>>By Patricia Breakey
>>
>>Delhi News Bureau
>>
>>Signs stating, "Yes to green energy. No to industrial wind in Meredith,"
>>have been disappearing from the homes of Alliance for Meredith members,
>>residents said Monday.
>>Sue Bailey, Alliance spokeswoman, said the signs began to vanish June 23
>>when one was taken on Turnpike Road at about 11:30 p.m. The residents "heard
>>this low muffler sound that sounded like someone turning around in the
>>driveway and then speeding off," she said.
>>The next night, she said, a white sedan with a loud muffler and at least two
>>passengers __graded a sign__ on Dickman Road at 8:15 p.m.
>>-------
>>It would appear the writer meant the sign was 'leveled', or knocked down,
>>but I can find no reference to such a use of the word 'grade'.
>>If this usage DOES have a history, will you please grade me on a curve as
>>it's a holiday?
>>(the other) doug
>>
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>>
>
>
>--
>All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
>come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>-----
>                                              -Sam'l Clemens
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org