Date:  Tue, 27 Jan 1998 20:58:51 -0500
From:  Gerald Cohen <gcohen[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UMR.EDU>
Subject: "zephyr" (= nothing)

  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?

--Gerald Cohen

gcohen[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]umr.edu