Different Strokes for Different Folks

[Wilson Gray]

On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 8:52 AM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:

> May 19, 1945


That makes it almost as old as "nitty-gritty," popular since I was a child,
during WWII. But, until the song, "Different Strokes" enjoyed a modicum of
popularity in '67, I'd never heard "different strokes for different folks."

FWIW, "get nitty-gritty" - minus the "down to the" - had the meaning,
"exceed the bounds of the socially-acceptable," as did the expression, "get
earthy."

Whilechecking HDAS, I came across "auber nitsky." Ultimately from German
"aber nichts," perhaps?

--
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

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