"a Dunkirk experience"

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Tue Jun 5 17:55:55 UTC 2012


The Queen's Jubilee festivities on Sunday were marred by cold and inclement
weather, but everyone danced and sang regardless.  An English commentator
on CNN beamed that "This *is* the sprit of Dunkirk!" and another
semi-explained for the benefit of us Yanks, "It's a Dunkirk like spirit
here today, isn't it? I don't think you know what Dunkirk means, but
anyway, it is getting a little windier and a little more iffy as far as the
weather is concerned."

Today again it was said that rain had transformed the celebration into a
trying but wonderful "Dunkirk experience!"

The Dunkirk experience I've heard of was rather different, though of course
I may not "know what Dunkirk means."  Which "Dunkirk" are the
highly-paid telejournalists, seemingly born in the 1960s, actually
referring to?

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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