Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 10:09:28 -0500

From: mmcdaniel mmcdaniel_at_interval-miami[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]INTERVAL-INTL.COM

Subject: Re: ADS-L Digest - 23 Oct 1997 to 24 Oct 1997



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'.



OK, somebody enlighten me: How does corporate America pickup (and

latch onto) Shakespearean terms?