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an absolute must!

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jgorman64	an absolute must!	Lead	[-]
Posts: 3698 (02/02/07 08:30:22) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : None Just saw this on a German site: "Fr alle Karnevalisten ein absolutes Mu." This is for an event at Cologne's Carneval starting next week. I assume that the abbreviated "an absolute must" (must-have, must-see, etc) is English in origin, possibly American, possibly advertising. Newspaper Archives has it back to 1910. Often the noun must is in quotes back that far. Any OED cites for the noun idiom? *From an account of a boxing match in 1910:* Ruhlin forced the fighting all the time, but would never engage at long range. That was an absolute "must" that his manager had driven into him, AHD4 has "must-see" and "must-read" but no noun must by itself as far as I could find.
Dr Techie	Re: an absolute must!	#1	[-]
Posts: 9773 (02/02/07 09:09:33) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	If you insist on that adjective, the OED doesn't cite it before 1988 (although "absolutely a must" is cited from 1943). However, the OED editors are clearly looking for "must" as a noun without trying to find the earliest use of the "absolute" version. Their earliest cite is "1892 Dial. Notes 1 205 An article marked with the word must is spoken of as a must, or emphatically-- if there is absolutely no way of keeping it out of the paper--as a dead must. Absolute Musth would be a good name for a cologne for male elephants. I don't know how you missed this in the AHD, but under must¹ it says: "NOUN: Something that is absolutely required or indispensable: Promptness on the job is a must. Comfortable boots are a must when going on a hike."
happydog	Re: an absolute must!	#2	[-]
Posts: 695 (02/03/07 12:28:39) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Absolut Must... when sobriety isn't an option.
jgorman64	Re: an absolute must!	#3	[-]
Posts: 3698 (02/03/07 19:26:39) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I don't know how you missed this in the AHD, but under must it says: I don't know how I missed it either. Except to say that AHD was an afterthought altogether. Thanks.
Syntinen Laulu	Re: an absolute must!	#4	[-]
Posts: 391 (02/12/07 10:11:39) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	In 1968 the French luxury goods firm Cartier launched a collection called Les Must de Cartier, implying "things that anyone who aspires to chic really must have". I don't know if "must" was already being used in this sense in French, but it's quite possible that this was where the Germans picked up on it, as naturally this collection was marketed Europe-wide.
Dutchtoo	Re: an absolute must!	#5	[-]
Posts: 714 (02/12/07 12:24:19) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	According to Van Dale it forms part of the Dutch vocabulary since 1958.
Eyehawk	Re: an absolute must!	#6	[-]
Posts: 2309 (02/18/07 01:46:00) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Maybe they were going back to the noun meaning "dangerous excitement or frenzy" (1878), borrowed from Hindi, transcribed as 'mast' intoxicated, in rut. Chambers. It could happen!

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