"Who knew?"

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Mon Apr 30 00:02:50 UTC 2012


Used a lot by TV talkers to cap a light-hearted story or minor revelation.
 Ex. "So Hrothgar was actually Grendel's father. Who knew?"

In other words, "Who would have thought of it or guessed?" "That's sooo
interesting."   (Or, in older, yet more humorous idiom, "Who'd 'a' thunk
it?")

The first time I heard this phrase was as the tag line of a TV ad campaign
in NYC for Lenders Bagels.  My guess is that it was in the early '70s, but
it could have been a few years later.

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



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