Dec

08

yadda-yadda and zoot suits (Phraseology, days 25 and 26)

2008 at 11am     Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky

The last two chapters of Phraseology are pretty short and sweet, so I’m lumping them together for a 2-letter final day celebration!

lettery

First, the Ys.

Yadda-yadda (which I’ve always spelled yada yada), “and so on,” is from the 1990s and of echoic origin. I don’t think the Seinfeld gang invented it, but their episode about it is one of my all-time favorites.  “No, I mentioned the bisque.”  Love it!

A yellow brick road is a metaphorical road to happiness, an allusion to the song in The Wizard of Oz. Having grown up in Kansas City, I hear references to this all the time. And I swear, if one more person tells me, “Well, it looks like you’re not in Kansas anymore,” I swear I’ll slap them.

You are what you eat can be traced to Anthelme Brillat-Savarin’s “Physiologie du gout” (1825). I would have guessed it was much more recent and new-agey.

Yule log comes from an archaic term for Christmas, for Old English geol, “Christmas Day.”

 And now, the Zs.

An obsession with unfinished work is the zeigarnik effect.

The term zero-tolerance dates to 1972.

Parallel lines crossed with other lines to give the illusion that they are nto parallel are called Zollner’s lines. Check it out:

 zollner21

Zoot suit is a rhyming formation on suit. It’s also a favorite among gangsters and swing dancers.

Well, that’s it! We’ve reached the conclusion of The Book Lady’s Phraseology fest. Hope you learned something fun!

Related posts:

  1. Voluntary simplicity (Phraseology, day 22)
  2. The naked truth about nitty-gritty (Phraseology, day 14)
  3. La-di-da (Phraseology, day 12)
  4. Park the biscuit and eat some pommes frites (Phraseology, day 16)
  5. Quickie (Phraseology, day 17)
Filed Under Book Reviews
Leave a Comment
 

Comments

No Responses to “yadda-yadda and zoot suits (Phraseology, days 25 and 26)”

  1. caite on December 8th, 2008 1:25 pm

    oh no! it’s almost over.

    I love optical illusions though…

  2. Christina (Endnotes) on December 8th, 2008 1:29 pm

    Phraseology looks like a fun read.
    It would be a great gift book, wouldn’t you think?

  3. Ti on December 8th, 2008 1:55 pm

    I love Seinfeld and the “yadda yadda” (which I previously spelled yada yada) episode has always been a favorite of mine.

  4. Devourer of Books on December 8th, 2008 2:04 pm

    Aw, I’m sort of sad that this series is over!

  5. Rebecca @ The Book Lady's Blog on December 8th, 2008 2:14 pm

    I’m sad too, Jen. And Christina, you’re absolutely right–it would be a great gift book.

  6. writemeg on December 8th, 2008 5:40 pm

    I live my life under the zeigarnik effect! It’s both scary and reassuring to know there’s a name for something like that . . .

    And I’m sad to see this end, too! Quite fun, Rebecca!

  7. Alyce on December 8th, 2008 11:54 pm

    Ah, at least now I have a name for it, TBR pile induced zeigarnik effect.

    The zollnar’s lines are very strange. It definitely plays tricks with your eyes.

    Thanks for sharing so many neat words and phrases with us!

  8. The Sunday Salon « The Book Lady’s Blog on December 14th, 2008 10:42 am

    [...] week, I wrapped up the Phraseology fest, discussed my reading and reviewing habits, finally participated in a few [...]

Got something to say?





CommentLuv badge