sauce (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Jonathan Lighter]

Another SWAG:  cf. the forty-year-old "cool beans."

JL

On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 11:09 AM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC <
Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> Subject:      sauce (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> WEAK SAUCE
>
> San Jose Mercury News (CA) - Saturday, August 19, 1989 p 1E [Newsbank]
> "And not only is the attempt usually weak sauce when a grown- up tries
> to sound totally fresh, kids don't like to hear their own lingo coming
> out of the mouths of their elders anyway. . . .  And "weak sauce" has
> stepped in for "lame." "
>
>
> _Los Angeles Times_ Aug 27, 1993. pg. 12 [ProQuest]
> "He taunts his opponent, jeering him throughout the match ("Come on with
> that weak sauce! Come on!")"
>
>
> The News Tribune [Tacoma WA] - Thursday, February 22, 1996 p A1
> [Newsbank]
> "Led by Perot and U.S. Rep. Linda Smith (R-Hazel Dell), the panel told
> the crowd in the Highline Community College gym that any alternative to
> legislation proposed by Smith is weak sauce."
>
>
> _Electronic Gaming Monthly_ 10/2002 p. 190 col 2
> "It's just too bad the game is still weak sauce when it comes to
> character design."
>
>
> AWESOME SAUCE
>
> Laurinburg Exchange, The (NC) - Friday, April 6, 2007 p B003 [Newsbank]
> ""It was just a week full of awesome sauce and probably the best spring
> break of college I've had so far," she continued."
>
> Rockford Register Star (IL) - Thursday, May 3, 2007 p 10M [Newsbank]
> "Describe yourself in one word: Awesome sauce. Isn't that one word? "
>
>
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of
> > Ben Zimmer
> > Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2010 9:16 AM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: Query: Slang "Awesome sauce!"
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> ----------------------
> > -
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
> > Subject:      Re: Query: Slang "Awesome sauce!"
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ------
> > -
> >
> > My impression is that "awesome sauce" (along with similar "X sauce"
> > formations) was originally modeled on "weak sauce" (meaning 'lame,
> > disappointing'). Urban Dictionary has entries for "weak(-)sauce" going
> > back to 2003:
> >
> >
> http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=weak%20sauce&defid=115176
> > http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=weak-sauce&defid=331879
> >
> > --bgz
> >
> >
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
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