an antedating "how to"? (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Ben Zimmer]

On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 2:17 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>
> On Aug 18, 2014, at 1:44 PM, Mullins, Bill CIV (US) wrote:
>
>> Does anyone on the list use this form?  It's something of a PITA
>
> Hey, I've never encountered that acronym before.  Useful, too--it =
> eloquently captures the feeling I have when my felafel falls apart.

It's come up here a few times over the years, including in James
Landau's onetime sig line, "The so-called subjunctive mood in English
is such a PITA that it should be served with falafel."

--bgz

-- 
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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