fun with phrases

[Jonathan Lighter]

1927 _Charleston [W. Va.] Daily Mail_ (Dec. 20) 15 [Newspaper Archive]: Just
the gift for that SPECIAL someone on your gift list.

1927 _The Bee_ [Danville, Va.] (Dec. 23)  7 [NewspaperArchive]: She will
help you when you come in tomorrow to find the gift that is "different" or
that very special something for that very special someone you have in mind.

Nine-year hiatus.

1936 _Sheboygan Press_ (Dec. 19) 5 [NewspaperArchive]: For That "Special
Someone" There's No Gift Like Fine LUXITE LINGERIE.

Increasingly common before a post-WWII torrent. Every ex. I've looked at is
an ad.

JL

On Tue, Sep 27, 2011 at 4:42 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: fun with phrases
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "That special someone."
>
> Nothing before a song title in 1945, "You're that Special Someone."  Hardly
> anything till the '50s, a moderate frequency of use in the '60s, then an
> explosion begins in  the '70s.
>
> JL
>
> On Tue, Sep 27, 2011 at 11:17 AM, Jonathan Lighter
> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: fun with phrases
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > A clear 1977, then really nothing till the mid-eighties. Then plenty.
> >
> > "It isn't who I am" shows up in '73, though not quite in the current
> sense.
> > (It seems to mean, "That's not the sort of person I am," which is pretty
> > close to current usage, though I think currently it tends also to mean,
> "It
> > isn't the style or thing I prefer."
> >
> > There's also a '42 snippet, which, if correctly dated, easily admits a
> > different interpretation, namely,  "It isn't who *I* am that counts; it's
> > who *you* are."
> >
> > "That's who I am" presents too daunting a search.
> >
> > "That's not who I am" also shows a good one in 1973.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Tue, Sep 27, 2011 at 10:41 AM, 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
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > What about the flip-side: "It's not who I am"?
> > >
> > >     VS-)
> > >
> > > On 9/27/2011 9:02 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > > > "It's part of who I am."
> > > >
> > > > Nothin' nowhere before a likely 1975 in GB, with some in the '80s.
> > > >
> > > > Many in the '90s, more than 500 since 2000.
> > > >
> > > > JL
> > >
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> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
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>
>
>
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>
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>



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

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