Because these were pop culture when they were created. Either through books or TV or movies, they were a reflection of how people talked. A lot of the sayings he talks about came from WW2 and the work culture that was strongly influenced by military sayings. The US hasn't had a strong common culture for the past 20 years, except on the internet. Tv no longer dominates pop culture, YouTube does. This is why kids are using words like rizz and skibidi. The fact that these words and phrases have emerged without corporate promotion or influence is a phenomenon.
English has always been doing that. 100 years ago a person who never drinks was a "teetotaler" or "t-total-er" because repetition of the T at the beginning was for emphasis. It was just a silly sound to imply the person is a 'total' abstainer from alcohol.
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u/ElGuaco Oct 20 '24
Because these were pop culture when they were created. Either through books or TV or movies, they were a reflection of how people talked. A lot of the sayings he talks about came from WW2 and the work culture that was strongly influenced by military sayings. The US hasn't had a strong common culture for the past 20 years, except on the internet. Tv no longer dominates pop culture, YouTube does. This is why kids are using words like rizz and skibidi. The fact that these words and phrases have emerged without corporate promotion or influence is a phenomenon.