[Ads-l] RES: ankle-biters

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Sat May 12 11:44:39 UTC 2018


Hotels, eh?

How about "bedbugs"?

JL

On Thu, May 10, 2018 at 6:05 PM, Mark Mandel <mark.a.mandel at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Thanks, that makes it quite clear.
>
> Mark Mandel
>
>
> On Thu, May 10, 2018, 4:35 PM Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Here is a link to a five year old article using "ankle-biter" in a
> business
> > context:
> >
> >
> > https://www.forbes.com/sites/economaney/2013/03/24/the-
> ankle-biter-economy-rises/
> >
> > On Thu, May 10, 2018, 4:26 PM Mark Mandel <mark.a.mandel at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > > But that doesn't preclude an extension to a meaning like "small-time
> > > competitors" or "nuisances", as somebody suggested.
> > >
> > > Mark
> > >
> > >
> > > On Thu, May 10, 2018, 10:53 AM George Thompson <
> george.thompson at nyu.edu>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > So, "ankle-biters" are children.  I can't argue against the evidence,
> > > > though I don't recall even being bitten on my ankle by one.
> > "Toe-biters" (their own toes) I could see.
> > > > But the statement was  “But with hotels, we’re seeing more and more
> > ankle
> > > > biters."   “But with hotels, we’re seeing more and more children"
> > Doesn't quite fit.
> > > >
> > > > GAT
> >
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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



More information about the Ads-l mailing list