Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 13:14:58 +0700

From: Scott Paauw spaauw[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]RAD.NET.ID

Subject: Re: "zephyr" (= nothing)



Gerald Cohen wrote:



I've come across "zephyr" with the meanng "nothing":



_ St. Louis Post-Dispatch_, May l7, l997, p.34/1-3; title: "The Sky

Is Not Falling":

"A 150-pound hunk of aluminum...comes hurtling out of space and

crashes on downtown's major

artery. And what happens?

Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zephyr. No human pancakes. No busted

windshields. [etc.]...."



I have no idea how the semantic development "zephyr" to "nothing"

occurred. Can anyone help?



This is just a guess, but it may be confusion with "cipher" (Brit.

spelling cypher), which of course means zero.