Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 10:56:11 -0400

From: Jesse T Sheidlower jester[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]PANIX.COM

Subject: Re: sea change





Can someone enlighten me about when the expression "sea change" came into our

language? It's a common buzzword in corporate writing...a sea change in

management, etc.



It's an allusion to Shakespeare's Tempest: "Full fathom five thy

father lies;/Of his bones are coral made:/Those are pearls that

were his eyes:/Nothing of him that doth fade,/But doth suffer a

sea-change/Into something rich and strange." (I.ii)



Here it means 'a change brought about by the sea', but it's

now used to mean 'any major transformation'.



Jesse Sheidlower

jester[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]panix.com