[Ads-l] awesome sauce!

[Jonathan Lighter]

That was Paul Johnston, not me.  I've never heard anyone use "What's your
story?" as a greeting.

However, back in the '70s there was a frequently aired TV commercial for a
local merchant (perhaps of electronics) whose pitchman was a burly
construction-worker type in a hard hat. The commercials would begin with a
chorus of strongly accented N'Yawkers inquiring, "Hey, Charlie! What's the
story???"

Charlie would give his spiel about low prices, always ending with "And
that's the story!"

More recently, UrbanD (2003) informs us that "What's the story[?]" is
"Irish slang for 'Hello'."

Cf. "What's buzzin', cousin?"  In 1973 I heard, "What's the latest and the
greatest?"

Whatever its origin, the phrase  "What's you story, morning glory?' was
popularized by the tune of that name, by Paul Webster & M. L. Williams,
crt. Oct. 27, 1938.


JL

On Thu, Apr 23, 2015 at 10:46 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: awesome sauce!
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Tue, Apr 21, 2015 at 7:58 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > His usual greeting to people was "What's your story?"
>
>
> "What's your story, morning glory?" has probably around since the '20's. My
> mother was familiar with it and it can still be heard, today. OTOH, simple
> "What's your story?" is a new one on me.
>
>
> --
> -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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