fun with phrases

[victor steinbok]

Not to mention the fact the the slogan of the 2008 presidential campaign was
"Change", which is, in part, the same metaphor.

Of course, there were a few similar ones along the way:

"This is not your [grand]father's Oldsmobile"

Still, I am compelled to ask: Is it really new or just a transmogrification
of some other cliche from 1932? (or even 1832?)

There have always been two opposite direction for any "progress"--expand on
your predecessor vs. start anew. This is just conservatism vs. the
revolutionary. Or are you suggesting that the application to "self" is
something that's never been used before?

VS-)

On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 12:12 PM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

>
> Within minutes of each other I've encountered three fairly "recent" cliches
> that got me to wondering.  All three are now frequently heard (at least in
> my world), but there was a time - in my own lifetime - when they never
> were.
> In theory, anybody since the rollout of EModE around 1600 could have
> uttered
> these words spontaneously, but if they did no one was paying much
> attention.
>
> So I did a quick GB search.
>
> FWIW:
>
> "redefine yourself": 1966, but not common for a decade.
>
> "reinvent yourself": 1969, but ditto.
>
> "Don't let the past determine your future" : 2000.
>
> "So what?" you say. "These things merely reflect the self-help crazes of
> the
> age."
>
> Precisely. Nobody was thinking these things in 1932 and now a hundred
> million people are. That suggests a significant cultural change
> encapsulated
> in just a handful of words.
>
> Stay tuned.
>
> JL

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