The new metaphor: The haystack and the 777

[Joel S. Berson]

What I thought notable was the very concrete image of a 777 in a
haystack.  Must have been large enough to feed Babe.  Perhaps
confusingly, I wrote "the new metaphor".  I didn't really mean to
suggest non-needles in haystacks were new, just that this one was
exceptionally large.

Joel

At 3/25/2014 03:56 PM, Victor Steinbok wrote:
>This is also a common academic law and scientific metaphor. Certainly,
>not new. In the early days of the Higgs Boson search, you could
>frequently hear the reference for having to "look in the right
>haystack". You also hear the same expression frequently in reference to
>counter-terrorism intelligence.
>
>http://goo.gl/wiz76L
>The Emergence of High Technology Litigation
>>The right technology can allow counsel to identify hot documents,
>>wherever maintained; preserve privilege claims and/or pierce the
>>privilege log; apply the federal and state rules to maximum advantage
>>-- in short, bring light into dark places, look in the right haystack
>>and find the needle.
>
>http://goo.gl/xdjgrg
>>"We may know that high value individuals are in a general area. We
>>need to be able to look in the right haystack. We could use ways to
>>bring infrared imagery and hyperspectral data into the video."
>
>
>     VS-)
>
>On 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
>
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org