Language Learning Base -2-

The idea is that the father of the pregnant daughter, almost by accepted custom, must resort to using coercive force (the shotgun) to ensure the marriage is carried out.

MurielB a écrit:
Fortunately, nowadays  nobody cares.

gerardM a écrit:

MurielB a écrit:deadpan is an expression I didn't know. Tx Gérard

You're welcome Muriel.

In such cases, you usually provide explanations.
This time, nothin'!

Why deadpan?
Is it coming from dead pan?
ie with an inscrutable face such as an inexpressive pan?

a pan can be:
- a saucepan
- the flat area on which we get up on a scale
- the container into which we piddle
- the kind of tray used to wash ore
- pan is a slang word for "face"

Is the French expression "pince sans rire" funnier than the English one?

"Deadpan" does indeed have a theatrical origin, first appearing in the New York Times in 1928 (in an article citing actor Buster Keaton as the quintessential "dead-pan" comic) and was frequently used in the show-business daily Variety around that time. The key to "deadpan" is the use of "pan" as theatrical slang for "the face" (reflecting the use of "pan" to mean "skull," found as early as 1330). So "deadpan" is simply another way of saying "expressionless face."

(I picked this from a forum; I understood it came from the Merriam-Webster tho' I can't find it on the M-W
It is quoted on http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/19/messages/1382.html
and on http://www.ibrattleboro.com/article.php/20100903151937665 )

gerardM a écrit:I've oodles of things to learn and I need the Internet and my fav dictionary as well.