[Ads-l] Put it in the gray basket (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Andrea Morrow]

It seems like it could be gray as in 'not black or white,' similar to 'gray
area' ('an ill-defined situation or field not readily conforming to a
category or to an existing set of rules,' according to Google).
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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Put it in the gray basket (UNCLASSIFIED)
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> also seems to be a synonym...

Have known and used it for decades.  Have heard it too, though not
from the posited "average American."

JL

On Thu, Jun 9, 2016 at 10:43 AM, Mullins, Bill CIV (US)
<william.d.mullins18.civ at mail.mil> wrote:
> CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED
>
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf=
 Of Michael Quinion
>> Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2016 3:32 AM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: Put it in the gray basket
>>
>> A reader asks about the expression "put it in the gray basket", which se=
ems to mean putting aside those questions for which there is too
>> little evidence to form a conclusion. An example: "As a physicist, I bel=
ieve one must ask the right questions, have a large 'gray basket' for
>> those questions about which there is too little solid information to rea=
ch a scientific conclusion." (/Flying Saucers and Science: A Scientist
>> Investigates the Mysteries of Ufos/, by Stanton T. Friedman,
>> 2008.) The spelling is always "gray", suggesting it is of US provenance.
>> The idiom is hardly common but appears most often in the context of UFOs=
, alien kidnappings and the like. The obvious potential link is with
>> those mythical alien greys associated with such abduction claims. Can an=
yone supply pointers to the genesis of "gray basket"?
>>
>> --
>> Michael Quinion, World Wide Words
>
> " The obvious potential link is with those mythical alien greys . . . "
>
> To me (coming from a scientist and engineering world), the obvious potent=
ial link is with graybeards.  These are senior scientists or others in posi=
tions of authority (they may even be retired) who represent the accumulated=
 wisdom of a field.  So "put it in the gray basket" could be read as "let t=
he problem ferment for a while, and maybe one of the graybeards will take a=
n interest in it and solve it."
>
>
> _Washington Post_ 8 Sep 1998 p A01
> " When she came to the Senate, Mikulski methodically set about to win ove=
r the powerful graybeards, the old guard with seniority who would not be ex=
pected to welcome a brash and outspoken newcomer into the fold."
>
> _New York Times Magazine_ 5 Aug 2001 p 32 Col 1
> " After a few more tests confirm the on-board systems are working, Lembec=
k says, "We'll get all the graybeards in the room, tell them what we've don=
e here and they will bless us and say, 'Go fly.' " "
>
> _Aviation Week & Space Technology_ 26 May 2003 p 25
> "Meanwhile, Apollo astronaut Tom Stafford, who heads the "graybeard" pane=
l that will review NASA's return-to-flight decision-making, has tapped form=
er shuttle pilot Richard O. Covey to lead the panel's day-to-day activities=
."
>
> Graybeard also seems to be a synonym for a generic old (male) person (see=
 OED), but the above sense is a special case that deserves notation, I thin=
k.
> CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED
>
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