"changed X forever"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Excellent observation.

A little thing can change everything.

 JL

On Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 12:03 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "changed X forever"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Someone once, probably several years ago and
> perhaps in the NYTimes Sunday Book section, a
> critique of the many current book titles with the
> subtitle "the X that changed the Y", where Y was
> something no more limited than the "universe",
> the "world", the "country", or Yale.  (X could
> be, and in the best titles was, something quite small.)
>
> A quick probe of WorldCat gives about 2509 titles
> (of course some are reprints) that contain the phrase "that changed the".
>
> Joel
>
> At 10/5/2011 09:22 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
> >"(and) changed the rules of X forever."
> >
> >A favorite of TV documentaries. Almost needless to say: no 19th C. hits at
> >GB.
> >
> >Earliest at GB is allegedly from the _Atlantic_ in 1987 (snippet not
> >verified):
> >
> >"They simply went on doing what they did best — quizzes, long dinneers,
> >longer cocktail parties — until a series of unrelated events *changged the
> >rules of their beloved game forever*."
> >
> >JL
> >On Tue, Oct 4, 2011 at 9:22 PM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com
> >wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject:      Re: fun with phrases
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > I am assuming you're jesting on both A and B (I take it, it's meant to
> > > be a parody on Yiddish jokes). "Sausage" is "kiełbasa" and diminutive
> > > for "cat" is "kicia", not "kishka". The Russian diminutive for "cat" is
> > > "kisia", which is pronounced nearly the same, or "kiska", which is
> > > similar, but not identical to "kishka". Neither has any connection to
> > > "kishka" (Russian) or "kiszka" (Polish), other than one's gut is used
> > > for various purposes (e.g., strings for musical instruments) and the
> > > other is wrapped in gut. As such, my sense of humor fails me with
> > > respect to this fanciful dialog. Perhaps it's the amount of sleep I got
> > > last night with cats jumping all over me... or the kiełbasa I ate
> > > earlier...
> > >
> > > VS-)
> > >
> > > On 10/4/2011 8:55 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
> > > > On Tue, Oct 4, 2011 at 8:41 PM, Victor Steinbok<aardvark66 at gmail.com
> >
> > >  wrote:
> > > >> "kishka" is Slavic>>Yiddish for "gut" or
> > > >> "intestines".
> > > > A. "Kishka'?! Why have you named your kitten "Intestine"?
> > > > B. It's not named "Intestine." "Kishka" means *sausage" in Polish.
> > > > It's named "Sausage," because it's such a fat little thing."
> > > >
> > > >   "Un faux ami," as the French say.
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > -Wilson
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >--
> >"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
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



-- 
"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