So, how long ago was it?

[Jonathan Lighter]

I don't think I'd ever say, "It's been a while ago."

However, I've been saying "I did it a while ago" and even "That was a while
ago" since birth.
I've been saying "It's been a while" (no _ago_) since shortly after that.

First trip South: 1974.

JL
On Sun, Oct 3, 2010 at 12:15 AM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      So, how long ago was it?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Seen in an article on smartplanet.com.
>
> http://goo.gl/Bsqc
>
> "Fraser patented the 'piggyBac' method _a while ago_."
>
>
> IME, _a while ago_ is a Southern regionalism, a temporal adverb phrase
> which is essentially meaningless when used outside of a context that
> has been made / will be made clear. A blues verse:
>
> I want  you to
> Tell me, mama
> Who was that
>  _While ago_?
> *When I came in*
> Who went out
> That back door?
>
> Something that I made up.
>
> Q.When was the last time that you were in Texas?
> A.It's been _a while_ ago_. *Not since '62.*
>
> X.The last time that I was in Texas was in *'62*.
> Y.Whoa! That was _a while ago_!
>
> In one case, _a while ago_ means just "a hot minute" into the past.
> In the other cases, _a while ago_ refers to a time a half-century
> "into the days of yesteryear."
>
> But, in the quoted sentence, _a while ago_ just hangs there. Neither
> anything that precedes that sentence nor anything that follows it
> gives the reader a clue as to when the method was patented. As the
> article was being keyboarded? Five years ago? There's no way to tell.
> The "bio" says that the writer went to the U of FL. That's not the
> same as "from Florida." So, who knows?
> --
> -Wilson
> –––
> 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.
> –Mark Twain
>
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