Re: Can one "inspire conversation"?



Allan WW wrote:
On 23 Mar 2006 09:37:11 -0800, "Troy Steadman"
<troysteadman@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Is it acceptable to say "this would inspire conversation"?

That is a turn of phrase that used to be common in the Fifties and
Sixties in England. A chequered mini skirt or beehive hairdo would
"inspire conversation".

So what phrase with the same meaning would you consider common
nowadays?

Allan WW

"Set tongues wagging"?

.



Relevant Pages

  • Re: Can one "inspire conversation"?
    ... A chequered mini skirt or beehive hairdo would ... So what phrase with the same meaning would you consider common ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: Shooting at VA Tech. 20 or more dead
    ... words that are in common usage - that's how they got in his brain. ... never in my entire life heard a person utter that phrase unless you count ... heard the phrase that Imus used fairly often by the typically race- ... culture that spawned it. ...
    (rec.music.gdead)
  • Re: fails their own purpose
    ... Perhaps not: it seems to mix two common idioms: ... but "fail their own purpose" is non- ... nothing wrong in the latter phrase, and it has the same meaning. ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: OT:"16-foot hole" in Pentagon
    ... It's a commonly used phrase use when talking about 9/11. ... Just a common phrase. ... Here are two analyses that changed my view. ... The second is ae911truth's analysis of the WTC buildings, ...
    (rec.music.classical.guitar)
  • Re: How Does One Get Hacked?
    ... If you've ever seen a brute force ... you'd know that almost all the common words also have leet ... In the sense that you should use as passwords things that aren't common ... If you want a password that is easy to remember, use a pass phrase ...
    (alt.games.warcraft)