
What does the "atta" mean in "attaboy" and "attagirl"?
Oct 21, 2010 · Dr Douglas Leechman, that eminent anthropologist and notable contributor to the Dictionary of Canadian English, wrote to me in 1969: 'Everybody, except the pundits, knows that this is "That's the boy"—"'at's a boy"—"atta boy".'—2.
meaning - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
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Meaning and origins of the American slang expression "ad' a boy ...
Dec 5, 2017 · Attaboy or thattaboy or that a boy is an informal expression of praise, approval, or encouragement of American origin, first attested 1909. As AHD has it: interj. Informal Used to show encouragement or approval to a boy or man: Attaboy! That's the way to hit a home run! [Alteration of That's the boy!]
offensive language - Is the word "boy" racist in the following ...
Dec 21, 2024 · Though.co has a post about racist words, and this is what it says under boy: In most situations, the word "boy" is not a problem. Used to describe a Black man, however, the word is troublesome. That's because historically, White people routinely described Black men as boys to suggest they weren't on equal footing with them.
terminology - What do we call the shift in the orthography of …
Jun 22, 2021 · cup of tea, fellow, that's the/a boy and that's the/a girl. I wonder if there is a term which would describe the process through which the orthography of these contracted words changed to what they call phonemic orthography (writing words as they are pronounced). For example, the British cuppa comes from cup of tea but it renders just cup of.
Why the use of 'clock' in the following sentence?
Jun 26, 2014 · "Atta boy, Mike!"..."Stand up to him!"..."Clean his clock!"..."We'll see that you get 'fair play!" came from all parts of the crowd. It was plain to see where all the sympathy lay. The next match (and the last before 1941) appears in a letter from Sylvania, Ohio, in the the April 1922 issue of Hunter Trader—Trapper magazine:
When do you use "talked" and "spoke"? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate: What is the difference between “speaking” and “talking”? I'm often befuddled when I am reading an article and the author uses talked with when refer...
"Boy howdy!" Where did this expression come from, who uses it, …
Feb 20, 2023 · Although the earliest instance I found of "boy howdy" as a two-word greeting involves a Black military cook (attached to soldiers from the U.S. South)—and although a slightly earlier instance of such usage (from 1916), cited in the Dictionary of Regional English and mentioned in a now-deleted answer posted by user 66974, involves its use by a ...
etymology - Bada bing, Bada boom; Is it that easy? - English …
May 12, 2020 · One syllable per step. In the hall of the Palace, Maurice studies English dances. An artist, Johns, a young boy who has seen and listened to the Negroes on Broadway and whose eye locks in the steps to reproduce them with his legs, …
When your 10-year old boy says “It’s meta,” what does it mean? In …
Nov 17, 2011 · I asked about the meaning and usage of meta a few days ago, quoting Maureen Dowd’s review of the movie, “J. Edgar” in New York Times. I received six answers. But I still don’t get a clear idea of...