A Word In Your Shell-Like. Nigel Rees
a miracle of rare device, / A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!’ The poem as a whole has been ransacked for all subsequent titles of Lees-Milne’s published diaries: Prophesying Peace (1977), Caves of Ice (1983), Midway on the Waves (1985), A Mingled Measure (1994), Ancient As the Hills (1997), Through Wood and Dale (1998), Deep Romantic Chasm (2000), Holy Dread (2001), Beneath a Waning Moon (2003). Compare STATELY PLEASURE DOME.
and all because the lady loves Milk Tray Cadbury’s Milk Tray chocolates have been promoted with this line since 1968. On British TV, the line was the pay-off to action adverts showing feats of James Bond-style daring that climaxed with the presentation of a box of the chocolates to a suitably alluring female.
—and all that ‘And all that sort of thing.’ Apparently the phrase was in the language before Sellar and Yeatman used it in the title of their cod volume of English history, 1066 And All That (1930). See also GOODBYE TO ALL THAT.
and all that jazz ‘And all that stuff, the rest, etcetera’ – often with the dismissive suggestion ‘and all that nonsense, rubbish’. American in origin, popular since 1959. From Gore Vidal, Myra Breckinridge, Chap. 6 (1968): ‘He [was] so pleased to have me “on the team” and me so happy to be able to do work in Hollywood, California, a life’s dream come true and – as they used to say in the early Sixties – all that jazz.’ All That Jazz was the title of a film (US 1979) about the life and death of a choreographer.
and a special goodnight to you Before becoming a disc jockey on British radio, David Hamilton (b. 1939) was an announcer with a number of independent television companies, including Tyne Tees, ABC and Thames. In the days when TV schedules ended round about midnight, his romantic sign-off became so distinctive that he even made a record with the title – ‘A Special Goodnight to You’ (circa 1967). At about the same time, the sign-off was also used by Barry Aldiss (‘B. A.’) on Radio Luxembourg and subsequently by several other broadcasters.
and awa-a-aay we go! On the Jackie Gleason Show on US television (1952–70), the rotund comic hosted variety acts and would always use this phrase to lead into the first sketch. He had a special pose to accompany it – head turned to face left, one leg raised ready to shoot off in the same direction. Gleason’s other stock (perhaps catch) phrases were how sweet it is!; baby, you’re the greatest!; one of these days…one of these days…; and pow! right in the kisser! He also popularized the word ‘labonza’ for posterior, as in ‘a kick in the labonza’. In The Life of Riley (1949–50), Gleason’s phrase after some stroke of fate was what a revoltin’ development this is!, though this appears to have been taken over by William Bendix, who followed him in the part.
and Death shall have no dominion The title of the notable poem (1936) on immortality by Dylan Thomas is a straightforward allusion to Romans 6:9: ‘Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more: death hath no more dominion over him.’
and finally…Introduction to the final light or amusing story on Independent Television News’s News at Ten bulletin (in the UK) and chiefly noticed when Reginald Bosanquet was newscasting in the 1970s. This kind of ‘tailpiece’ had first been established by ITN in the 1950s. A book called And Finally (edited by Martyn Lewis) collected some of these tailpieces and was published in 1984.
and how! An intensifying phrase of agreement, almost certainly of American origin from, probably, the 1920s. ‘“I should say she was pretty,” said a loud and cheery voice just behind him…“Pneumatic too. And how!”’ – Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Chap. 4 (1932).
and I don’t mean maybe! An intensifier to show that the speaker has just issued a command, not simply expressed a wish. Mencken lists it as an ‘American saying circa 1920’. The second line of the song ‘Yes, Sir, That’s My Baby’ (circa 1922) is: ‘…No, sir, don’t mean maybe’. OED2 has it by 1926, and it is in James Joyce, Anna Livia Plurabelle (1928).
and I’m like, hello? An expression of mock incredulity, popularized in the mid-1990s by the American TV show Friends. ‘Did you see that vicar the other day who made all the kiddies cry by telling them that Father Christmas couldn’t possibly exist – I mean, I was like, hello, why don’t you tell us about your boss, then, and how he manages?’ – The Independent (17 December 2002).
and in a packed programme tonight…A worn-out TV presentation phrase gently mocked by Ronnie Barker at the start of each edition of the BBC TV comedy show The Two Ronnies (1971–88). Compare his similar mocking of the dual presenters’ IT’S GOODNIGHT FROM ME…
and I quote Rather portentous indication of a quoted remark coming up – as though putting spoken quotation marks around whatever it is the speaker is about to say. The Complete Naff Guide (1983) lists it under ‘Naff Expressions’. Fritz Spiegl commented in MediaSpeak (1989): ‘On TV, “and I quote” may be replaced by the now fashionable, quaint “I quote” gesture: both hands raised aloft, first and second fingers sticking up like rabbit’s ears and brought down once or twice to meet the thumb.’ These finger-waggling ‘air quotes’ were known by 1977.
and I wish I was dead See NOW THERE’S A BEAUT.
and justice for all This phrase comes from the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag (put into its final form by Francis Bellamy in 1892, though further amended in the 1920s and 50s): ‘I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.’ The idea of ‘justice for all’ is, however, one that goes back to the Greeks. It also gave rise to the remark by Lord Justice Sir James Mathew (d. 1908): ‘In England, justice is open to all, like the Ritz Hotel.’ And Justice for All was the title of a film (1979) about the US legal system. See also ONE NATION UNDER GOD.
and no heavy lifting Phrase used in a jokey description of the demands made – or not made – by a job, usually in politics. In an interview with Hunter Davies in The Independent (18 January 1994), Diane Abbott, the British Labour politician, said: ‘Being an MP is a good job, the sort of job all working-class parents want for their children – clean, indoors and no heavy lifting. What could be nicer?’ Much the same claim had earlier been made by Senator Robert Dole about the US vice-presidency (ABC TV broadcast, 24 July 1988): ‘It is inside work with no heavy lifting.’ And then J. K. Galbraith, Name-Dropping, Chap. 8 (1999), had: ‘[John F.] Kennedy also knew how to identify himself with…the larger electorate. At the end of his 1960 campaign, he addressed a vast crowd in the old Boston Garden… He asked himself, as though from the floor, why he was running for president. In reply, he listed some issues, all relevant to his audience, that needed attention; then he ended by saying that the presidency was a wellpaid job with no heavy lifting. The largely working-class gathering responded with appreciation, affection and joy. He was one of them.’
---, and no mistake! An intensifying phrase of affirmation, dating from the 1810s.
and now a word from our sponsor One of the various ways of getting into a commercial break, taken from American radio and television and much employed in British parodies of same in the 1950s and 60s – though never used in earnest in the UK (for the simple reason that sponsored TV of any type was not permitted until much later).
and now for something completely different…Catchphrase from BBC TV, Monty Python’s Flying Circus (1969–74) and used as the title of the comedy team’s first cinema feature in 1971. Like most graduate comedy shows of the 1960s and 70s, Monty Python rather frowned upon the use of catchphrases as something belonging to another type of show business. Usually delivered by John Cleese as a dinner-jacketed BBC announcer, seated before a microphone on a desk in some unlikely setting, the phrase had hitherto been a slightly arch ‘link’ much loved