lemon party

[Jonathan Lighter]

A friend called long distnace to ask the meaning of this phrase, which he'd
heard on his favorite television cartoon. He was mystified and so was I, so
I made inquiry of another friend, chosen at random.

He confessed having heard "lemon party" a few years ago, from Mr. Burns
of _The Simpsons_, but had no idea what it meant either.

UrbanDictionary instantly revealed that the meaning is (I'm
paraphrasing) "an orgy of unclothed, elderly homosexual men."

The term seemingly derives from the name of an internationally popular
website featuring on-the-spot pictures of such events. My good sense and
powers of imagination kept me from going there.

But here's the point: in bronto days, when I was a lad, we didn't feel the
lack, so obvious in retrospect, of a handy designator for that particular
referent.

Why was that?

JL

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

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