The rich & super-rich

[Doug Harris]

I seem to recall a letter-based designation being used to identify
assorted socio-economic target markets in the UK when I resided
there in the 1970s. But some time spend researching that via Google
today proved fruitless.
Perhaps someone (on this list) who's presently resident there could
shed some light on this.
(the other) doug


"A-list" has been used in reference to actors (and sometimes
celebrities in general) for quite a while. A quick look at the OED
has a 1935 citation for it referring to debutantes, and then a 1976
one referring to movie actors (nothing in between except a 1963
reference to high-status prison inmates!). In general the cites are
all for actors or socialites/party-goers/social cimbers. I don't see
it in there as a reference directly to wealth, but it seems
reasonable enough as an extension.

James Harbeck.

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