I am currently listening to Saul Bellow's The Adventures of Augie March (which I love). It was published in 1953. In the section on growing up in Chicago in the 1920s, which Bellow actually did and which feels very authentic, one of the characters says to another "let's not and say we did."
I always thought that was a Valley Girl thing from the 1980s.
Interesting, I grew up in Chicago and can remember hearing that from my father's side of the family, which has lived in the Chicago area since way back. It's possible they got it from Bellow, or it might have been a Chicago-ism.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in the 1950's saying just that. It was sort of a smug,"aren't I clever" thing to say.
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