From the Lost Phrases Department

Most of you who follow this blog know my unwavering love of verbosity. I'm always getting hung up on certain words and phrases, some new, some old, that just float my boat for one way or another. As a matter of fact, I had about a fifteen minute conversation with a coworker about our mutual love for the term "underpants" (a long-time Bill favorite for all you who know me).

One phrase that hopped out at me earlier this week is one that I don't remember having heard in ages... and I began to wonder: why doesn't anyone use the term "make a pass at" any more? I've always felt this is one of the more sophisticated and sensible terms with regards to courtship and all that jazz. I'd much rather say I made a pass at someone than I tried to get digits, or I attempted to cop a feel. That's also one of the inherent wonders of that phrase - it's so non-specific. It can be something as innocent as trying to strike up a conversation with someone who you find attractive, and can be something as nefarious as to proposition someone. I'll also tell you this much: making a pass at someone is only about a thousand times classier than spitting game at someone.

Sadly, even entering "make a pass at someone" in the search engine of your choice yields odd and varied results: you have things like "make it happen on the pass line" in reference to craps, also "how to make someone pass out". Naturally, there are a ton of sports "making a pass" articles and images, making time pass, and even how to literally make a pass, in this case "pass" being some type of handbill, like a movie pass. It's really sad.

So, this weekend, when you're out with your friends, let the phrase drop. Just be like "oh, I think I'm going to go make a pass at that girl/guy" or "do you believe that? He/she just tried to make a pass at me!" I can all but guarantee it'll make your outing a little more fun and exciting.