"due"

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Fri Jun 24 13:23:08 UTC 2011


Consider the universal journalistic phrase "due to."  As in

"The President is due to deliver his speech on blah-blah this afternoon at
Wacka-Wacka."

And the related "due for":

"All my wonderful employees are due for a big raise!"
"The Martians look due for their first pennant in 3,000 years; the Jovians
look due for a lame finish."


Perhaps I'm losing my grip, but I don't see either of these "dues" covered
by OED.

Also apparently unnoticed is

"And when are you due?"

I.e., specif., "expected to give birth."

JL
--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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



More information about the Ads-l mailing list