Fun with phrases: "in a previous life"

[Charles C Doyle]

Of course, "funny" is in the sensibility of the beholder.  However, to take the conventional phrasing of a central and (as it were) sacred tenet of Eastern mystyicsms and apply it to something as mundane as a job does strike me as funny.

--Charlie

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From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Charles C Doyle [cdoyle at UGA.EDU]
Sent: Monday, July 16, 2012 8:28 PM

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It's IRONIC.

--Charlie

________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Jonathan Lighter [wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM]
Sent: Monday, July 16, 2012 6:01 PM
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Gee, is that funny too?

JL

On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 5:18 PM, Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at uga.edu> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Fun with phrases: "in a previous life"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Samuel Hopkins Adams, "Invaded America," _Everybody's Magazine_ 38, no. 2
> (Feb. 1918): 30:
>
> "Credit . . . is largely due to A. R. Rogers, the chairman.  In a previous
> existence, Mr. Rogers was at the head of a great lumber company . . . ."
>
> --Charlie
>
> ________________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of
> Victor Steinbok [aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM]
> Sent: Monday, July 16, 2012 1:28 PM
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The expression "that's another life" is quite common in reference to an
> earlier stage in one's life, usually characterized by a different
> location, profession or employment, but occasionally also referring to
> just earlier stages, such college or school years, or periods marked by
> a cataclysmic event, such as a family member's death, divorce, etc.
>
> Eleanor Rosch used to refer to earlier stages in her career as "previous
> lives", as the directions of her research changed rather drastically
> between those stages. This is particularly ironic, given her 1990s stage
> that involved a Buddhist take on cognitive science.
>
>      VS-)
>
> On 7/16/2012 1:11 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > This means "at an earlier time in one's life."  My wife has been using
> this
> > since at least the early '90s, if not the late '80s..
> >
> > A TV weatherman explained today that "in a previous life," about fifteen
> > years ago, he owned a small farm.
> >
> > The earliest I can find in GB:
> >
> > 1993 in _H.R. 3600, The Health Security Act_ (Washington, D.C.: USGPO,
> > 1994) IV 212 (GB snippet, looks real): MR. CONDRON: In a previous life I
> > was a congressional aide to your late colleague and a great man, Silvio
> > Conte of Massachusetts.
> >
> > 2000 Jay Hopkins in _Flying_  (July) 59: In a previous life, I served as
> a
> > school consultant for the Onondaga Council on Alcoholism in New York.
> >
> > JL
>
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