[Ads-l] prom; lodge

[Laurence Horn]

I can imagine “We can’t skip Pride”.  

As in 

“We had already postponed it once, and we definitely want to do something, because in our mind you just can't skip Pride for a year,…”

"I know I know. I still haven't finished the Valentine's Day one BUT! The window is closing to make the pride event and I can't skip pride”

(A recurring event)

Not that different from “can’t skip commencement/graduation/homecoming…”

But yes, it was “the prom” for me, back in another millennium.

LH

> On Jun 22, 2024, at 4:49 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> In my day, when the earth's crust had recently cooled, we teens spoke of
> going to "the prom."  Years later, I heard a new crop of teens talk about
> going to "prom," suddenly a mass noun.
> 
> In the July, 1960, issue of _Walt Disney's Comics and Stories_, one of
> Donald Duck's nephews says "But tonight's Lodge Night at the Junior
> Woodchucks!" And the next one says "We can't skip lodge!"
> 
> Another mass noun that even now strikes me as odd. (I'd say "We can't skip
> Lodge Night!")   Both "prom" and "lodge" designate familiar, recurring
> events.  Are there other exx. of this grammatical quirk?
> 
> JL
> 
> -- 
> "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

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