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Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2010In the day; back in the day
When I first learned the phrses: in the day; and: back in the day, they referred to defineable days, I believe. The jazz era, the big band era, the period when Joanie and I toured with Guy Lombardo, etc. or maybe when we were both stationed on Guam. But now people seem to use the phrases to mean something that "happened to me only several years ago." that no one else knew about, that likely wasn't even a particular period of my life. All that matters is that it was years ago. Have any of you notice this change?  SignaturePosters should say where they live, and for which area they are asking questions. I was born and then lived in Western Pa. 10 years Indianapolis 7 years Chicago 6 years Brooklyn, NY 12 years Baltimore 26 years > When I first learned the phrses: in the day; and: back in the day, they > referred to defineable days, I believe. The jazz era, the big band era, [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Have any of you notice this change? Me: no. SignatureCordially, Eric Walker, Owlcroft House http://owlcroft.com/english/ >When I first learned the phrses: in the day; and: back in the day, >they referred to defineable days, I believe. The jazz era, the big [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > >Have any of you notice this change? No, not really. In BrE, when referring to an era, "days" are usually plural. The expressions are "In the/those days" and "Back in the/those days". An exception might be "In my day", which would refer rather vaguely to a period of time, such as "That never happened in my day" (say, when I was young, or simply 'way back when'). On the other hand, for a specific time, you would say, for example, "In my days at the coal mine". If you were meaning a specific day or specific days, you would normally change the "in" to "on", as in "On that day", "On those days". SignatureIan [...] > In BrE, when referring to an era, "days" are usually plural. The > expressions are "In the/those days" and "Back in the/those days". An [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > If you were meaning a specific day or specific days, you would normally > change the "in" to "on", as in "On that day", "On those days". "Back in the day", though, is a set idiom. Whether it is mainly AmE I can't say, but "back in the days" would be like "sure as eggs are eggs". Incidentally, I at least have never heard or read bare "in the day". A quick Google-- http://www.google.com/search?q="back+in+the+day" --will show the ubiquity of the phrase. SignatureCordially, Eric Walker, Owlcroft House http://owlcroft.com/english/ >[...] > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >can't say, but "back in the days" would be like "sure as eggs are eggs". >Incidentally, I at least have never heard or read bare "in the day". I think I only heard that once, an hour or two before I started this thread. >A quick Google-- > > http://www.google.com/search?q="back+in+the+day" > >--will show the ubiquity of the phrase. SignaturePosters should say where they live, and for which area they are asking questions. I was born and then lived in Western Pa. 10 years Indianapolis 7 years Chicago 6 years Brooklyn, NY 12 years Baltimore 26 years > "Back in the day", though, is a set idiom. Whether it is mainly AmE I > can't say, but "back in the days" would be like "sure as eggs are eggs". > Incidentally, I at least have never heard or read bare "in the day". I have. It's not unusual. When context has identified when the day was, it's common to abbreviate the expression. SignatureJohn Varela Trade NEWlamps for OLDlamps for email >Have any of you notice this change? Back in the day, 20 to 30 years ago, I did. ¬R Blood is worthless, outside its original container. http://users.bestweb.net/~notr/davidcar.html --Don Rauf |
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