Talk:keep it on the barber pole
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Created in 2005, has an etymology and pronunciation. But searching for "it on the barber pole" on Google Books and Google Groups gets zero relevant hits. The two hits on Twitter are from a bot account that randomly combines terms from a dictionary (possibly Wiktionary). There are two hits from Internet fora for the infinitive, both postdating the creation of the entry by over a decade, and none for the simple present, present participle, or past tense. Have we been duped? 70.172.194.25 11:47, 25 January 2023 (UTC)
- According to what was on the page when it was made: "In the movie "Knockaround Guys" ([2001]), Seth Green’s character used this expression to indicate that he could complete an important task without messing it up." Three citations, for all senses. (talk) 19:38, 8 February 2023 (UTC)
- I found a transcript of the movie (can't vouch for accuracy). The only quote in the transcript that uses the word "barber" is "I know, only stop for gas. Don't worry. I keep her on the barber pole the whole way back." First of all, to be technical this quote doesn't use the word "it" so it doesn't support the current lemma. More broadly, it doesn't support the definition currently given. Wikipedia says:
- The term on the barber pole is pilot jargon that refers to flying an aircraft at the maximum safe velocity.
- The movie quote supports the sense of flying quickly (e.g., not making stops). There is no indication that it is being used as an idiom for "to do something correctly" outside of the context of quick flight. 70.172.194.25 21:01, 8 February 2023 (UTC)
- I found a transcript of the movie (can't vouch for accuracy). The only quote in the transcript that uses the word "barber" is "I know, only stop for gas. Don't worry. I keep her on the barber pole the whole way back." First of all, to be technical this quote doesn't use the word "it" so it doesn't support the current lemma. More broadly, it doesn't support the definition currently given. Wikipedia says:
RFV Failed, no hits. Ioaxxere (talk) 22:14, 27 February 2023 (UTC)