[Ads-l] RES: "that'll be the day"

Robin Hamilton robin.hamilton3 at VIRGINMEDIA.COM
Thu Apr 7 15:43:43 UTC 2016


Yo' mama!  No way jose is the Ronstadt version near as good as that of My 
Sainted Buddy, or my name is Norval.

The OED has an entry, under DAY, n -- Other phrases. -- j.  orig. Austral. 
and N.Z. that'll (also that will) be the day: (originally) that will be a 
significant day to experience, a day worth waiting for, etc. (cf. sense 
8c); (now chiefly ironic) that is most unlikely; that will never happen.

All the examples given there, other than the first (1916) -- "that will be 
the day" -- are in the enclitic form.  Does this perhaps suggest that the 
exclamation was originally Scottish?

Robin Hamilton

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-----Original Message----- 
From: David Daniel
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2016 2:45 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: RES: "that'll be the day"

I prefer Linda Ronstadt's version, which is here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0j4h9ajtgg. Everybody says "That'll be the
day" when applicable. No?
DAD

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