The new metaphor: The haystack and the 777

[Joel S. Berson]

I should, of course, have titled my message "The 777 in the
haystack".  But as usual I spoke before I thought.

Joel

At 3/25/2014 12:57 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole wrote:
>Joel S. Berson wrote
> > "Australian military official", quoted (in TV text display) by CNN
> > tonight (that is, early Tuesday morning EDT):
> >
> > "We're still trying to find where the haystack is."
> >
> > Longer quote at http://http://uk.inagist.com/ --
> >
> > "We're not searching for a needle in a haystack, we're still trying
> > to find where the haystack is."
> > Aussie vice chief of def staff
>
>Thanks, Joel. I've heard that extended metaphor in the past. Here is
>an instance with a GB date of 1956. I suspect it is considerably
>older:
>
>Journal Title: The Florida Bar Journal
>Volume 30
>Page 433
>Year 1956
>(Google Books snippet data may be inaccurate)
>
>{Begin extracted text]
>IF YOU ARE going to search for the proverbial needle in a haystack,
>you must first find the haystack. Probably a great many lawyers shun
>tax research because they are uncertain where the haystack is.
>[End extracted text]
>
>Garson
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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