[Ads-l] Heard in an anti-pit-action ad

[Wilson Gray]

> I've heard several places described as "the armpit of the East" (or other
              > geographical region)

I first heard "X is the Y of (the) Z" in the form, "[Fort] Devens (in
Massachusetts) is the armpit of the Army," back in 1959, when I had the
misfortune to be stationed there.

(I'm having a problem with my computer. That's why my comments have not
been S.O.P., here of late, when - kinda -  quoting the work of others.)

On Sun, Aug 6, 2017 at 2:21 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

> > On Aug 6, 2017, at 1:34 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> wrote:
> >
> > "Pit" = established slang for "armpit."
> >
> > "Action" = even longer established slang for "goings-on" or even just
> > "stuff."
> >
> > "Armpit" = term for "underarm" tabooed by Madison Avenue since at least
> the
> > '50s, because it's widely held to be very creepy, like "moist."
> >
> >
> > JL
>
> I’ve heard several places described as “the armpit of the East” (or other
> geographical region”, but haven’t encountered any described as “the
> underarm of the East”.  “The soft underbelly”, maybe.
>
> LH
> >
> > On Sun, Aug 6, 2017 at 1:19 PM, Mark Mandel <thnidu at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> I don't get it. Without context & detail, this could be perfectly
> normal.
> >> And I have no idea what "anti-pit-action" is supposed to mean, and had
> even
> >> less before opening your post. (Auto racing?)
> >>
> >> Mark, puzzled
> >>
> >> On Aug 6, 2017 1:59 AM, "Wilson Gray" <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> _armpits_
> >>
> >> instead of "underarms."
> >>
> >> Youneverknow.
> >>
> >> --
> >> -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
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



-- 
-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

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org