[Ads-l] Big Sky

[Laurence Horn]

> On Aug 30, 2021, at 11:59 AM, Bill Mullins <amcombill at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
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>> -----Original Message-----
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>> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> On Behalf Of
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>> Jonathan Lighter
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>> Sent: Saturday, August 28, 2021 11:15 AM
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>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
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>> Subject:  Big Sky
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>> From around 1950, the state of Montana has embraced the promotional
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>> nickname of "Big Sky Country."  There's even a tourist town called Big Sky.
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>> Modern use of the phrase comes from the title of A. B. Guthrie's best-selling
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>> novel, _The Big Sky_ (1947), filmed in 1952.
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>> JL
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> OED has 1953 for "Big Sky Country".
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> 1948 Butte MT _Montana Standard_ 12 Nov 13/1 (newspapers.com)
> Names considered were "Big Sky Country," "The Big Dome Country,”

They probably realized that some day that one would be too Stephen King for them...

> "Montana's Magicland" and several others.

…and that one too Disneyfied. And now “Big Sky” has its own eponymous TV miniseries, so it worked out for the best.

LH
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