инглиш

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Ни дня без нового слова!

Сегодня: gas в значении "что-то потрясающее, восхитительное, положительное итп." Например: "The party was a gas!" Употребляется обычно с неопределённым артиклем. Американский сленг. Словарь Апресяна предлагает "восторг, блеск" (значение 5.2 )
Первое упоминание в OED - 1957-й год: "Brand-new pianos certainly were a gas".

Насколько употребимо сейчас? Не уверен, но кажется, это осталось в эпохе сыкстиз-севнтиз, а сейчас употребляется разве что с архаичным оттенком того времени. Я прав?

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

All right, let's clear this up right now. "Gas" is WWII-era slang, originally black/jazz usage and (according to J.E. Lighter's Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume I, A-G -- the OED is good for many things, but American slang is not its forte) originally a verb 'to thrill or delight': 1941 Pittsburgh Courier [a black newspaper] (Nov. 15) Dagwood was "gassed" to wash the slate clean this way; then a noun 'that which is exciting or delightful; thrill; good time.--usu. used with indef. article': ca1953 Hughes Lodge 94: First kicks on horse [heroin] are...the biggest gas in life. (Bracketed explanations mine.) From Lighter's citations I judge that it had gone out of active use by the very early '60s, which accords both with my own Sprachgefuhl and with the natural lifespan of slang; I would bet that its further currency is a result of the Stones' "Jumping Jack Flash" ("it's a gas gas gas"), and the Stones of course got it from their beloved electric-blues post-WWII records. Ponyatno?

Steve

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Спасибо!