Kathleen in VA Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 We noticed this phrase being used in an episode of Foyle's War ("War Games"), which, as you may know, is set in Word War II Britain. Anyway, dh thinks this phrase is a relatively new invention and we're just wondering if anyone knows when it came into use - at least popularly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 do you mean the figurative use? meaning, "when everything else has been taken into consideration" ? http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/at+the+end+of+the+day there's a literature link at the bottom of that page (you can click for 'more results') but they all seem to refer to the literal use, & not the figurative. Interesting question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen in VA Posted August 8, 2010 Author Share Posted August 8, 2010 do you mean the figurative use? meaning, "when everything else has been taken into consideration" ? http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/at+the+end+of+the+day there's a literature link at the bottom of that page (you can click for 'more results') but they all seem to refer to the literal use, & not the figurative. Interesting question. I actually went to this website but didn't scroll down all the way. I guess it makes sense that it has been used non-figuratively a lot longer. That seemed to be the way it was being used in the examples of literature there. So, yes, I guess I do mean in a figurative way, like, "when all is said and done." Thanks for clarifying that - I hadn't made that clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 What I've seen is that it was office slang used in the UK in the 80's which made it's way over to the US more recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3littlekeets Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 I don't know how long it has been used, but it is now OVERused, like "thinking outside of he box," was 5-10 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen in VA Posted August 8, 2010 Author Share Posted August 8, 2010 I don't know how long it has been used, but it is now OVERused, like "thinking outside of he box," was 5-10 years ago. I found this out when I googled the phrase. There were several blogs bemoaning its overuse. I can't seem to find out when it was first introduced in a figurative sense. It's not all that important - we just thought perhaps the writer of the series slipped up and used a phrase that wasn't used in that way back then. Like I said - not of any great importance. Just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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