[Ads-l] XYZ revived

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Thu Dec 15 14:26:52 UTC 2016


Barn doors were still open in the fifties, but the horse’s whereabouts didn’t usually need to be specified.  Can’t say as I’d ever heard “XYZ” though (and  Petersville time checks wouldn’t have helped in the post-war Zipper Age).   

LH



> On Dec 15, 2016, at 12:23 AM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> On Wed, Dec 14, 2016 at 2:59 PM, Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> I recall this acronym for “examiner your zipper” being used in the 1970s
>> to mean “your zipper is open.”
>> 
> 
> It's brand-new to me. Back in button days of the '40's, we said,
> 
> "It's [number of buttons unbuttoned] o'clock in Petersville"
> 
>                                        or
> 
> "Your barn-door's open (and your horse is getting out),"
> 
> which also works for zippered flies.
> 
> 
> -- 
> -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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