News4 mins ago
He's toast.
22 Answers
Where does the expression 'he's toast' come from? Is it recent? Toast is edible, though it is but bread heated and browned; it has its uses, so what is the idea behind the expression?
Answers
From the New York Times Magazine... ''Hey, dude. You're toast, man'' was a passage in The St. Petersburg Times of Oct. 1, 1987, the earliest citation the Oxford English Dictionary research staff has of this usage. ''Actually, the trendiest way of saying someone is finished is to say 'He's toast,' '' wrote the columnist George Will the following year. ''The...
19:02 Mon 12th Nov 2012
From the New York Times Magazine... ''Hey, dude. You're toast, man'' was a passage in The St. Petersburg Times of Oct. 1, 1987, the earliest citation the Oxford English Dictionary research staff has of this usage. ''Actually, the trendiest way of saying someone is finished is to say 'He's toast,' '' wrote the columnist George Will the following year. ''The women in Bush's entourage also are turn-you-to-toast toughies.''
"It means burned, scorched, wiped out, demolished."
"It means burned, scorched, wiped out, demolished."
well, if it's in Ghostbusters and that was made in 1984, then it's earlier than the OED says; but I'm not going to watch it again to see.
OED tend to rely on written sources; I'm not sure what they do when someone hands them a DVD as evidence. Especially if the alleged dialogue is adlibbed and not in the written script.
OED tend to rely on written sources; I'm not sure what they do when someone hands them a DVD as evidence. Especially if the alleged dialogue is adlibbed and not in the written script.
