[Ads-l] when the shit hit the fan

[Jonathan Lighter]

Nice work, Garson!

JL

On Fri, Jun 20, 2025 at 3:37 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <
00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> Excellent citation, JL. Following your lead, here is a euphemistic
> instance with a precise date in 1945.
>
> Date: April 26, 1945
> Newspaper: Goldendale Sentinel
> Newspaper Location: Goldendale, Washington
> Article: Letters From Service Men
> Letter Title: Cold On Pacific Island
> Letter From: Fred (Anderson)
> Quote age 9, Column 4 and 5
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> https://www.newspapers.com/image/944973186/
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Dear Dad,
>  Sorry about the long delay in
> communiques, but we're at it again!
> Yeah, that well known stuff has hit
> the fan and I guess you know - your
> son is taking good care of his rear
> extremeties!
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Fri, Jun 20, 2025 at 9:13 AM Jonathan Lighter
> <00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
> >
> > HDAS archives have many exx. referring to WW2, but this euphemistic form
> > from Internet Archive is the earliest of any:
> >
> > 1945-46_C'est la Guerre!: 612th Graves Registration Company_ (N.p., n.d.)
> > 46:  When things settled, each looked at the other as if to say, "Where
> > were you when the stuff hit the fan?"
> >
> > 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
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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