Expert: Ted Nesbitt - 9/24/2006

Question
Looking for the historical origin of "to die for"

Answer
Lisa:

I once received a "9" for politeness, but the questioner followed that evaluation with an immediate apology -- he had clicked the wrong number!  In every category for which I volunteer, I rank the highest in the politeness area.

I find it very peculiar that Allexperts does not seem to have a problem in getting me the evaluations from other people.  But, with you, the message was not delivered.

I trust that, in the future, when you are living or dying for an answer, you will please contact another volunteer.

Thank you.

TN



As I indicated to you in a previous response, I spent MANY hours researching your question over a two-day period.  I sent two answers to you well over a week ago.  According to the records at Allexperts, you read my last response one day after I sent it . . . or at least I think you did.

Since you didn't take a few seconds to acknowledge all the work I did for you -- there is an evaluation form attached to all the answers, along with the opportunity to nominate the responder as "volunteer of the month" --  I suppose that you did NOT receive my answer.

Therefore, I am sending it to you again.  I don't usually contact people who fail to respond, since I assume that they are just ill-mannered and don't know how to say "thank you."  However, Lisa, I spent many hours, searching through many dictionaries and other books of idioms, phrases, and jargon.

I trust that my answer was satisfactory, even though you, apparently, cared nothing for my extensive answer and thorough research.  

How sad it is that so many people eagerly ask for help from others but are not courteous enough to offer a word of thanks.

Ted Nesbitt

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I have spent MANY hours trying to track down the origin of this phrase.  I hope that you appreciate my effort.  I'm going to give you two more references, but I cannot spend any more time on it.  It's one of those colloquialisms that is a derivation or "take off" on phrases that have existed throughout history -- some of which I mentioned in my last message.

From "The NTC's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions," 3rd edition, 2000, page 436:

"TO DIE FOR -- important or desirable enough to die for; worth dying for.  EXAMPLES:  This chocolate cake is to die for!  We had a beautiful room at the hotel and the service was to die for."  

Unfortunately the NTC Dictionary does not give an exact date or explain, in any way, how the phrase entered the English language.

Here's a more current explanation:

"And, Yiddish-influenced-English has contributed more than its "fair share," (Don't get me started, Don't ask, Get outta here, To die for, Enough already)."

This sentence is taken from the 2005 book about "pop" language by Leslie Savan, a writer for the "Village Voice."  She has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize on three occasions.  She is a language authority, but she doesn't give any DATE of origin, only that it is from the Yiddish.

Here's a statement about her:

Leslie Savan's Slam Dunks and No Brainers: Language in Your Life, the Media, Business, Politics, and, Like, Whatever is an expose' on "pop" language, its history and evolution. It is a study in not only linguistics, but also culture, media and technology, advertising and community. Last, but not least, Savan's work is a study in psychology, for "producing the right phrase at the right time reassures us: I'm awake, it says. I connect."

This is the best I can do.  The phrase is DEFINITELY American and most likely from the late 20th century.  It does NOT appear in The Oxford English Dictionary.

So many of these colloquial expressions are difficult to pinpoint.  They arise through speech.  Only after they have been spoken for a while do they ever get written down, and the actual WRITING of the phrase marks its date of entry into the language -- at least, for the composers of dictionaries.

Ted Nesbitt