on the ground = 'in the world'

[Laurence Horn]

At 8:15 PM -0500 1/18/11, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>You're undoubtedly right, but I noticed Thomson's use because within the
>past day or so I heard a clearer ex. on CNN, which I can't find on line.
>
>It seemed to compare what low-income mothers faced "on the ground" as
>opposed to something in theory.

Isn't this use similar to the military one (I think I've come across
it in reports from the front in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere)
where "the situation on the ground", in the actual battles taking
place, is contrasted with, as you say, something in theory (or in the
military planners' war-game scenarios).  This is, however, quite
different from "light on the ground" meaning 'sparse'.

LH

>
>Admittedly this is close to "on the spot," but no particular location was
>implied.
>
>So perhaps it would be best to sit back, ponder the evidence, and file it
>under "Maybe" ...in the Twilight Zone.
>
>JL
>
>On Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 8:03 PM, Garson O'Toole
><adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:
>
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>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>>  Subject:      Re: on the ground = 'in the world'
>>
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  This appears to be an instance of the expression "light on the ground"
>>  which I think means uncommon. (A similar expression is "sparse on the
>>  ground".) Google Books has an example that it dates 1963. The volume
>>  number of the journal is 196 and that matches the year 1963. Date
>>  probes also show that 1963 is plausible. (Not verified on paper; May
>>  be inaccurate)
>>
>>  Engineering.
>>  Author: Design Council.
>>  Publisher: London : Office for Advertisements and Publication, 1866-
>>  Edition/Format: Journal, magazine : Periodical : English
>>
>>  There is close contact with industry in this research but, again,
>>  courses at undergraduate level are still few and far between.
>>
>>  Ergonomics is light on the ground, though it has its champions, in
>>  Norway and Denmark. In Belgium there has been a burst of research
>>  activity but, so far, little industrial application. In Holland
>>  research has found industrial and ...
>>
>>
>>  Google Books has another example that it dates 1967. Worldcat agrees
>>  with the date. (Not verified on paper; May be inaccurate)
>>
>>  The Leopard
>>  Peter Turnbull-Kemp - 1967 - 268 pages - Snippet view
>>
>>  There may be a great deal of movement within a territory, and it seems
>>  clear that - where game is light on the ground - the Leopard makes a
>>  regular patrol, unconsciously giving prey time in which to settle down
>>  after his period of ...
>>
>>  On Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 5:19 PM, Jonathan Lighter
>>  <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>  > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  -----------------------
>>  > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>>  > Subject:      on the ground = 'in the world'
>>  >
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  >
>>  > OED has "in situ; on the spot" from the early '60s. But try this:
>>  >
>>  > 2008 David Thomson _Have You Seen...?_ (N.Y.: Penguin) 791: "'Bib-lit'
>>  > [biblical literature] is mercifully light on the ground these days.
>>  >
>>  > And that's the context, in a review of a biblical screen spectacular.
>>  >
>>  > JL
>>  >
>>  > --
>>  > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
>>  truth."
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