Re: Vacuum tubes

In article <JwpPi.8465$8c4.2771@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
"Arfa Daily" <arfa.daily@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

"Arfa Daily" <arfa.daily@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:5opPi.14881$DB2.12247@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Smitty Two" <prestwhich@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:prestwhich-2C382F.06005511102007@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In article <MTlPi.3827$NE2.3058@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
"Arfa Daily" <arfa.daily@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

wouldn't go down a storm

I have an inkling of what this means from the context, but would you
mind putting it in American for me?

Hi Smitty

I guess it probably comes from the theatre, although I'm not too sure
about that. Perhaps someone else may have heard it in that context? Over
here if an act is really well received - say a comedian or a singer or
band perhaps, it's often said that they "went down a storm" with the
audience, which I'm guessing probably referred originally to the 'storm'
of noise created by the applause and general appreciation, so perhaps that
gives you a better idea. Looking at the phrase again, "a storm" is used
descriptively in this case, rather than as a noun, which is perhaps why
its meaning comes across oddly your side of the pond.

So translated, it means "would not be accepted with much appreciation"
d;~}

Arfa


Hey Smitty, I just took a look on the 'net to see if I could find anything
that confirmed or otherwise what I said in the post above, and
interestingly, there are several people asking what you did. Just as a
matter of interest, we also say "go down a bundle" here to mean the same
thing. That may come from the phrase "a bundle of laughs" but again, I'm not
sure. It would seem reasonable though, as if something was 'bad' or not well
received, then there would be no cause for laughter or other good cheer. "Go
down a storm" does get used for both positive and negative meanings, but the
same phrase using "bundle" tends only to be used in a negative context.

Arfa

Got it. Thanks for your efforts. I infer that your WWW research
unearthed several questions but no authoritative answers. I'd say your
speculation on the etymology of the storm is quite plausible. Not so
sure about bundle, but who am I to say?

Is going down a storm being used positively a more recent innovation,
like the American slang "that's bad" to mean very, very good?

There are books written detailing derivations of colloquialisms, but
even they often disagree, and I suppose we've simply lost the history on
many of them.

The most fascinating language-related thing I've ever seen was an
interview on "BookTV" (an obscure TV network) with someone talking about
the history of the Oxford English dictionary. Seems that was the first
serious effort anywhere in the world to put together a real
comprehensive lexicon of a language as it was actually being used. The
story is as intriguing and suspenseful as any great tale of adventure.
Stunning.
.

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