Talk:the big one

Request for verification
Death. DCDuring TALK 15:27, 8 May 2009 (UTC)


 * This is plausible but difficult to search for. A quick glance on the Web did find a few items that might support it, e.g. "Is swine flu 'the big one' or a flu that fizzles?"; "In-custody death: Getting ready for the big one". Equinox ◑ 21:31, 8 May 2009 (UTC)


 * To me the "big one" is just a pronoun, possibly meriting an entry, but not with such a limited meaning. It's referent always depends on context: in auto racing, it's a multi-car collision; in California, it's a titanic earthquake; to many veterans, it was WWII. DCDuring TALK 23:24, 8 May 2009 (UTC)


 * The "death esp. by heart attack" usage probably originates with the old Sanford and Son US TV show, in which Sanford (Redd Foxx), did a standard shtick where he would clutch his chest, look heavenward, and exclaim, "It's the big one!" I'm not sure how much this usage really caught on beyond the TV show.  The California mega-quake sense noted by DCDuring is certainly more common. (And, indeed, back in the early 1960s, on the old Dobie Gillis TV show, Dobie's father did a regular shtick where he would speak with pride of being a veteran of WWII, "The Big One.") -- WikiPedant 06:01, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

RFV failed, entry deleted. —Ruakh TALK 03:36, 23 November 2009 (UTC)