And "I've been had"?
At 08:10 PM 1/13/2008, you wrote:
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Weiss" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2008 7:07 PM
>Subject: untranslateable phrases
>
>
>>Or, j'en ai marre, j'en ai ras-le-bol (or just ras).
>>
>>But it was a serious question about the history of what I assume
>>are Americanisms. Really. Robin?
>>
>>Mark
>
>I think the two phrases -- "I've had it" and "I bought a farm"
>-- are pretty much independent.
>
>I chased the "bought a farm" idiom once, and as I remember it, it
>seems to emerge in WW1, possibly the American flying corps. Maybe
>someone was thinking of Thomas Hardy's "Drummer Hodge" -- 'Yet
>portion of that unknown plain / Will Hodge forever be" -- or Rupert
>Brooke's reworking in "The Soldier" sonnet. Though probably not.
>
>As to "I've had it," without looking it up (and I'm currently far
>off from my dictionaries) I don't know whether it would be a
>contraction of "I've had it up to the back teeth", or whether that
>is an expansion of the idiom you cite.
>
>If there is a link, think of mibbe "I bought a packet" or "I've bought it."
>
>Sorry not to be of more help.
>
>Robin
>
>ADDITION:
>
>Quoth the Random House Dictionary of American Slang, vol.1 A-G
>(which I do have to hand):
>
>"Bought it" is WWI RAF slang, and "bought a farm" evolves from this,
>more specifically US, with the earliest reference given as 1954 --
>predominantly USAF, meaning: "(of a pilot or airplane) to crash."
>
>R
>
>>>That should be "je n'en peut plus supporter," natch. Way rusty in French.
>>>
>>>
>>>>Well, meaningless if translated directly, though there are ways
>>>>to say them in the argot of other languages.
>>>>
>>>>I'm curious about the origins of:
>>>>
>>>>I've had it (je l'ai tenue?), in both its meanings--I can't put
>>>>up with any more of this (je ne peut plus supporter ceci), and
>>>>I've bought the farm (j'ai achete la ferme)
>>>>
>>>>I've been had (j'ai ete eu?)
>>>>
>>>>Mark
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