[Ads-l] price ceiling

Sat Dec 29 14:16:28 UTC 2018

I read the citation as stating that costs were exceeding the price ceiling,
not that prices were exceeding the price ceiling.

That said, it presents a justification for talking about "going through the
ceiling", so you made your point.

On Sat, Dec 29, 2018, 4:16 AM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com
wrote:

> Excellent citations, Bill. They provide evidence for the metaphorical
> use of (break, kicked, knocked) “through the roof” applied to the
> voice.
>
> [Begin excerpt of message sent from Bill Mullins]
> _Variety_ 14 Oct 1911 p 20 col 4
> "She is a principal, one of the three females in the lead, and the
> only one who doesn't try to make her voice break through the roof."
>
> _Variety_  4 Mar 1921 p 8 col 1
> "Miss Barry has be reviewed in this department so often it need only
> be added that she never misses and she has a sense of humor all her
> own and more material that answers this description than most
> vaudevillians.  She kicked it through the roof Monday afternoon for a
> walloping wow."
>
> _Variety_ 18 March 1921 p 16 col 2
> "They sat down and knocked 'Home Again Blues' through the roof, both
> reaching marvelous climaxes in this number."
> [Begin excerpt of message sent from Bill Mullins]
>
> There is a fun citation for the negative metaphorical phrase in 1904:
> “never went through the roof”. A poem described an avaricious
> character named Ichabod whose tithing was inadequate: "'Twas $5 for
> him and 10 cents for the Lord". Thus, his vocalized prayers did not
> ascend from Earth to reach the ear of God. His prayers were unable to
> go up through the roof.
>
> Date: February 18, 1904
> Newspaper: The Evening Journal
> Newspaper Location: Ontario, Canada
> Article: A Parallel Case (Lewiston, Me. Journal)
> Quote Page 4, Column 2
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> His prayers were most strenuous, so were his hymns,
> As he beat doubtful time with his disengaged limbs.
> I was always impressed that the Lord stood aloof,
> And that Ichabod's prayers never went through the roof.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Dan Goncharoff wrote:
> > "price ceilings" referred to government-imposed maximum prices,
> > usually during war time. "Going through the roof" would have been
> > illegal.
>
> Thanks for your comment, Dan. Here is a 1942 citation with the phrase
> “break through the price ceiling”. So this notion was discussed, and
> perhaps it influenced the genesis of the phrase “going through the
> roof” for prices, but 1941 is a very late date, and the hypothesis is
> weakened by the citations Bill has found.
>
> Date: August 6, 1941
> Newspaper: Beatrice Daily Sun
> Newspaper Location: Beatrice, Nebraska
> Article: Against Inflation
> Quote Page 4, Column 1
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Looming large in production costs is the wage level, if every demand
> for more pay is granted by government boards production costs must
> rise and break through the price ceiling.
> [End excerpt]
>
> There were ceiling prices in 1907 according to the citation below, but
> I haven’t been able to find citations in the early 1900s for prices
> going through the ceiling.
>
> Date: October 15, 1907
> Newspaper: The Northfield News
> Newspaper Location: Northfield, Vermont
> Article: Press Comment
> Quote Page 2, Column 5
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> St. Albans Messenger: With butter soaring at ceiling prices today, it
> is interesting to read the reminscences of an old resident of
> Fletcher, who tells of being sent to St. Albans when a boy with a lot
> of butter to sell. After trying all the stores in town, at the last
> one he finally negotiated a sale whereby he parted with his butter at
> eight cents a pound and took it out in trade.
> [End excerpt]
>
> (The spelling “reminscences” for reminiscences is in the original text.)
>
>
>
> > DanG
> >
> > On Fri, Dec 28, 2018 at 11:03 AM ADSGarson O'Toole
> > <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > The Oxford English Dictionary has information about the phrase
> > > “through the roof” with a first citation in 1946.
> > >
> > > roof, n.
> > >
> > > [Begin excerpt]
> > > P5. colloq. through the roof.
> > >  a. Esp. of bids, prices, sales, etc.: beyond the expected limit, to
> > > extreme heights. Chiefly to go through the roof .
> > > 1946   E. Hodgins Mr. Blandings builds his Dream House viii. 118   The
> > > Knapp sales curves were going through the roof.
> > > 1972   Times 24 Oct. 10/3   Only a few special treasures were bid
> > > through the roof.
> > > 1973   Times 30 Oct. 19/6   On lots that were rare and undamaged they
> > > [sc. prices] went through the roof.
> > > [End excerpt]
> > >
> > > Here is an instance of the metaphorical phrase “went through the roof”
> > > in the domain of commodity prices in 1925.
> > >
> > > Date: May 7, 1925
> > > Newspaper: The Akron Beacon Journal
> > > Newspaper Location: Akron, Ohio
> > > Article: Crude Rubber Strikes Peak Price in Years
> > > Quote Page 1, Column 6
> > > Database: Newspapers.com
> > >
> > > [Begin excerpt]
> > > CRUDE RUBBER STRIKES PEAK PRICE IN YEARS
> > > Crude rubber prices went through the roof Thursday morning and as they
> > > gave signs of continuing to advance, the market suddenly became
> > > completely demoralized, according to White-Seiberling Co., Akron crude
> > > rubber brokers.
> > > [End excerpt]
> > >
> > > Why was this metaphor selected? In the price domain I have heard
> > > phrases such as “price ceiling” and “price cap”. If the phrase “price
> > > ceiling” was established initially then one might talk about “going
> > > through the price ceiling” or more emphatically “going through the
> > > price roof” or a “price going through the roof”.
> > >
> > > Yet, I do not know when or why the phrase “price ceiling” entered
> > > circulation. Perhaps a graph plot of a constrained price was
> > > reminiscent of a ceiling.
> > >
> > > On Thu, Dec 27, 2018 at 5:19 PM Mark Mandel <mark.a.mandel at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Well, sort of. That use is literal, but I've never taken the idiom
> to imply
> > > > flames, but just "very high" in some metaphorical sense or other:
> > > >
> > > > - numerical: prices, interest rates, medical readings (blood
> pressure...),
> > > > (dis?)approval ratings...
> > > > - emotion: Wilson's enthusiasm example; very commonly anger in a
> different,
> > > > implicit construction ("When she heard about their escapades, the
> principal
> > > > went through the roof")
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Ah. Cambridge agrees:
> > > >
> https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/go-through-the-roof
> > > > :
> > > >
> > > > - to rise to a very high level:
> > > > Prices have gone through the roof.
> > > >
> > > > - (*also hit the roof , informal*) to get very angry:
> > > > When I was expelled from school, my parents went through the roof.
> > > >
> > > > Mark
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Dec 27, 2018 3:43 PM, "Wilson Gray" <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Heard on local news
> > > > A fireman says to a reporter,
> > > > "By the time we got here, the flames were _through the roof_."
> > > > Is this the source of such expressions as:
> > > >
> > > > When she said yes, I was through the roof!
> > > > After she had explained the concept, my enthusiasm was through the
> roof!
> > > > During the concert, the fumes of Teen Spirit were through the roof!
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > -Wilson
> > > >
> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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