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Re: off topic... what's the meaning of this expression?
Subject:Re: off topic... what's the meaning of this expression? From:Romay Jean Sitze <rositze -at- NMSU -dot- EDU> Date:Tue, 2 May 1995 13:10:17 -0600
This is an interesting question. I know that I have seen the term
"vapors" used in a context that would suggest the "swooning" definition.
However, according the my unabridged dictionary, this would be an
incorrect definition. "Flatulence" would be more correct.
My suspicion is that "vapors" has come to be associated with "swooning"
because one of the definitions is "fanciful, vaguely formed, or
unreliable. Also a strange, senseless, or fantastic notion. Do you
suppose that someone saw the word senseless and took it out of context,
thereby redefining the word erroneously and the error was adopted and
perpetuated by others?
(Source, The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged
Edition)
On Mon, 1 May 1995, Kelly Kremin wrote:
> the vapors
> What does it mean? My boss insists it means a swooning spell. I was
> certain I'd learned that the vapors was flatulence.
> Can anyone clear this up? Site a source? Point me in the right
> direction?
