"Tebow time"

[Charles C Doyle]

Perhaps a kind of play on the phrase "tee time"?

I remember when I first heard that  term:  My father-in-law, a skilled and avid golfer, was on the phone arranging a get-together with some of his buddies, and I overheard him discussing a "tee time."  I envisioned him gathering with his friends for a manly cup of tea . . . .

--Charlie

________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Laurence Horn [laurence.horn at YALE.EDU]
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2012 1:08 PM

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Oct 9, 2012, at 12:13 PM, Joel S. Berson wrote:

> At 10/9/2012 11:45 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>> Maybe it *is* time for them to pray.
>>
>> JL
>
> I wondered also.  But the article quotes SNL's Seth Meyers as saying
> "Is there anything more exciting than Joe Biden thinking it's up to
> him to get the lead back? It's Tebow time!"  I don't get especially
> excited by prayer.
>
> But why isn't it "(Eli) Manning time", considering his 4th-quarter
> successes in 2011, and a better ultimate outcome?

For one thing, no alliteration.

LH
>
>
>> On Tue, Oct 9, 2012 at 11:11 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:
>>
>> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> > -----------------------
>> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> > Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>> > Subject:      Re: "Tebow time"
>> >
>> >
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >
>> > On Oct 9, 2012, at 10:37 AM, Charles C Doyle wrote:
>> >
>> > > A headline on this morning's Yahoo News trumpets, "It's Tebow time for
>> > Biden and Ryan: How the VP debate could change the end game."
>> > >
>> > > I wonder what percentage of viewers/readers of that headline are
>> > expected to grasp the meaning of "Tebow time"?  (The article doesn't
>> > explain it.)
>> > >
>> > Probably a lot of viewers/readers interpret it to mean "time to pray"
>> > rather than "time to come up with the big play".
>> >
>> > LH

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org