Among my mother’s circle in Brooklyn - back in the fifties and sixties - one would say ‘Mention by you’ in response to some kind of congratulations, meaning, I think, ‘May you be similarly blessed’.
Ever heard anything like this?
Ever Heard This?
Re: Ever Heard This?
First, No, I haven't heard this expression.
Second, is there a typo in this? Did your mother say "mention by you" (as quoted) or "mentioned by you," with a past tense -ed? In latter, the syntax seems to me to reflect the semantics/pragmatics of the situation.
Third, in pragmatic terms, the expression seems similar to "So who's counting?" a sort of passive - agressive phrase meaning something like "Why did you bring that topic I shouldn't brag about up for?"
Second, is there a typo in this? Did your mother say "mention by you" (as quoted) or "mentioned by you," with a past tense -ed? In latter, the syntax seems to me to reflect the semantics/pragmatics of the situation.
Third, in pragmatic terms, the expression seems similar to "So who's counting?" a sort of passive - agressive phrase meaning something like "Why did you bring that topic I shouldn't brag about up for?"
Re: Ever Heard This?
Thanks, bnj. No, I wrote it as it was. And I’m certain there was nothing negative in the intent.
Apropos of nothing at all . . . but I just ran across a line I copied from a novel. I think you’ll appreciate this:
“ . . . and that if I wasn’t careful, I was courting disaster - or at least asking it out on a first date.”
All the best.
Apropos of nothing at all . . . but I just ran across a line I copied from a novel. I think you’ll appreciate this:
“ . . . and that if I wasn’t careful, I was courting disaster - or at least asking it out on a first date.”
All the best.
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- Grand Panjandrum
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Re: Ever Heard This?
Nice line. What novel was it in?
Re: Ever Heard This?
Hi. I’m pretty sure it was one of the Longmire novels by Craig Johnson. He also wrote something quite like “ . . . gray hair framing a face carved from hard wood, with a dull chisel.”
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