1897 seems like an important year.
replyThe Futility Closet website (and, formerly, podcast) is an amazing treasure trove of fascinating facts.
replyMy great grandmother taught me that “nothing doing” meant something similar to “there’s nothing for it”.
replyI’m in my late thirties and it was still in common use in India, and perhaps specifically among Anglo Indians? But it meant more like “no chance”.
reply“Can I go out to the movies with my friends?”
“Nothing doing! You have an exam tomorrow”
Or failure to do something.
“I tried to fix it myself but nothing doing”.
Funny, does anyone know the history of any of the markers? I'm just curious why this is global thing really.
replyYou don't think this is just a joke that multiple people thought of independently?
replySome of them might be in reaction to a local event, or even a worldwide event that had no local impact. But I think they're mostly just jokes.
The one from Míšov, Czech Republic is tribute to the running joke of nonexistent genius Jara Cimmrman
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