"changed X forever"

[Laurence Horn]

On Oct 6, 2011, at 12:03 AM, Joel S. Berson wrote:

> 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

…although that also includes the no doubt many book titles that refer to someone who changed the tires, changed the oil, changed the diapers, etc.  (Memoirs are big these days.)  Then there are the more violent versions, "…that shook the…"

LH
>
> 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."
>>
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>
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