JUS’ TALKIN’ ’MERICAN, LIKE, Y’KNOW PART 1

I’M HARDLY ONE TO SPEAK, what with a high-school teacher once asking me “How long have you been in this country, Dennis?” However, I do find amusement and erudition in learning about uniquely American phrases. Indeed, upon research, some turn out to be not so uniquely American at that. Here in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow are tidbits about both varieties.

A goodly number of websites offer examples. Among those consulted here are bestlifeonline.com, businessinsider.com, insureforsport.co.uk, and Wikipedia. Several examples have already appeared here at SimanaitisSays. See, for instance, the uniquely American theatrical wish “Break a leg.”

Get to First Base. Clearly a reference to the baseball hitter’s progress around the diamond, this one would be as obscure to a Brit as we Yanks would be with “being skittled out by a yorker.”

This and the following image from BestLife.

Let us eschew the American male’s quantization of the term, e.g., getting to second base, etc. 

Scoot Over. BestLife writes, “Americans might casually say this when asking someone to move slightly, but those who aren’t familiar with the term can be forgiven for not having a clue what the American is asking them to do.” BestLife describes a non-American who responded, “What? I don’t even have a scooter with me.”

Once in a Blue Moon. Wikipedia says, “Webster’s Dictionary (1949) defined a blue moon as meaning, ‘A phenomenon never, or very rarely, seen; hence, a rarely recurring occasion.’ However, since the mid-20th century the term blue moon has commonly been applied to the occurrence of a second full moon within a single calendar month, something that happens every two or three years, thus obscuring the original meaning of the term.”

On the other hand, a literally bluish tint to the moon’s color might be caused by fires releasing “particles in the atmosphere of just the right size to preferentially scatter red light. This is a genuinely uncommon occurrence, more in accord with the original meaning of the phrase ‘once in a blue moon.’ ” Alas, what with increased wildfires associated with climate change, the meaning may be obscured even more.

Jump on the Bandwagon. Business Insider writes, “In the 19th century, American showman and circus owner PT Barnum coined the term ‘bandwagon,’ which referred simply to the wagon that carried the circus band.”

A special band. A sorta wagon. This wonderful image from Archives New Zealand/Flickr via Business Insider.

“Noting that parades were an effective way to attract attention,” Business Insider continues, “politicians took a page from the circus workers’ book and began incorporating bandwagons into their campaign strategies. But it was Teddy Roosevelt who helped cement the figurative phrase in the American lexicon, when, in 1899, he referenced political bandwagons in a letter he wrote.”

We’ll pick up tomorrow in Part 2 with pleading, passing, knocking, and a couple of regional wild cards. All in good ’Merican fun, y’know.

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2024