l*****g
发帖数: 685 | 1 Dear Word Detective:
My ten year old son has been assigned to determine the origin of the phrase
"knock your socks off." As an English professor, I was pretty cocksure
about finding an answer quickly, but we have been, to use a good Word
Detective word, flummoxed. Any clues? -- Margaret Oakes, Greenville, SC.
Answer: Golly, that seems like a pretty tall order for a ten year-old. I
sure hope his teacher knows the answer.
The term,“knock your socks off” comes from the adult entertainment
industry of the 1940s and 1950s.
Most adult films from that period were commonly known as “Smokers” and
were generally silent home-type movies usually shown at bachelor’s parties,
etc. At that time (and even now?) it was easier to cast women’s roles in
adult films than it was to find willing men. Men were difficult to cast
because they were generally camera shy. When appearing on camera, the men
would routinely wear sunglasses to disguise their looks; and for some odd
reason they wanted to also wear their (typically) dark colored socks.
Anyway, since it was very difficult to talk any of the men working in “
Smokers” out of wearing their ridiculous “disguises”, especially their
socks, it was eventually said that if one of these adult movies was
especially provocative, or “hot”, it was said (more-or-less as a joke) to
have the power to “knock your socks off”.
This arcane phrase that was once an “insider’s” term from the porn
industry, has been adopted by mainstream America to mean just about anything
that is impressive in nature. | i****a
发帖数: 36252 | 2 wow, this just knocked my socks off
phrase
SC.
I
【在 l*****g 的大作中提到】
: Dear Word Detective:
: My ten year old son has been assigned to determine the origin of the phrase
: "knock your socks off." As an English professor, I was pretty cocksure
: about finding an answer quickly, but we have been, to use a good Word
: Detective word, flummoxed. Any clues? -- Margaret Oakes, Greenville, SC.
: Answer: Golly, that seems like a pretty tall order for a ten year-old. I
: sure hope his teacher knows the answer.
: The term,“knock your socks off” comes from the adult entertainment
: industry of the 1940s and 1950s.
: Most adult films from that period were commonly known as “Smokers” and
| B*********s
发帖数: 292 | |
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