E-Mail I Just Sent (language-related)
Nov. 8th, 2007 01:01 pmA Way With Words recently did a podcast on the phrase "Let's blow this pop (popsicle/popcorn) stand."
In response, I sent the following e-mail:
In response, I sent the following e-mail:
Your piece on "let's blow this pop/popsicle/popcorn stand" made me nostalgic.
After my senior year of high school, I spent a year in Israel on a program for
Zionist youth. My Israeli history teacher on the program was a man originally
from Massachusetts, and he used "let's blow this popsicle stand" and "let's bust
this clamshell" interchangeably. I have no idea of the origin of "Let's bust
this clamshell," but I do recall my teacher using it frequently when we went on
field trips with class. So, for instance, we'd be at the Cardo in Jerusalem,
he'd give a brief lecture, and then when he wanted to move along to the next
site, he'd say, "OK, let's bust this clamshell." It was a frequent enough
occurrance that one of my classmates started responding, "OK, clamshells, up
against the wall!" (thus using "bust" in the "drug bust" sense).
The teacher's statement and the class's rejoinder (because soon enough we were
all using it) were so identified with our group that, at the end of the
semester, we got the teacher a T-shirt that said "Let's bust this clamshell" on
the front and "OK, clamshells, up against the wall" on the back.
Nostalgically yours,gnomi