[Ads-l] down to a dull roar

[MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY RDECOM AMRDEC (US)]

Richmond Times-Dispatch 27 May 1938 p 15 col 2
"Overheard at the Stork, when someone observed about Peggy Mabon: "Any moment she will calm down to a dull roar." "


> 
> My high-school Latin teacher used the expression, "Let's keep it down to a dull roar." This was 1950-52. We had the same teacher for two
> years, the guy from Omaha who complained that St. Louisans had a strange accent, saying, e.g. "Far-est Pork" instead of "Fore-est Park.".
> 
> On Mon, Oct 30, 2017 at 5:55 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
> > I think I first noticed this cliche' in the late '60s.
> >
> > Almost literal:
> >
> > 1959 _Cleveland Plain Dealer_ (Sept. 9) 16: Three others - Pan
> > American, BOAC, and Aerolineas Argentinas - have been officially
> > complimented for keeping noise down to a dull roar.
> >
> > Figurative:
> >
> > 1961 _Times-Picayune_ (N.O.) (June 9) 33: "Life will never be the same
> > again," [Cmdr. Alan B. Shepard,Jr.] said. "I imagine one day that
> > things will die down to a dull roar.
> >
> > 2017 _The Young & the Restless_ (CBS-TV) (Oct. 30): Let's keep it down
> > to a dull roar.
> >
> > JL
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> 


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