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>"happy ending" for dessert I am expressing no opinion on whether this is ok or not, but there has been a chain restaurant in the northeastern US catering main

>"happy ending" for dessert I am expressing no opinion on whether this is ok or not, but there has been a chain restaurant in the northeastern US catering mainly to families whose signature dessert was a "happy ending" sundae for decades. And it appears that they do not use that phrase any more, but I found evidence it was eliminated in the last 3 years. I don't know why - it might have been a combination of changing sensibilities and their bankruptcy leading to reexamining things. (2018) "Get a free Happy Ending Sundae when you try any of our 5 new entrées!" - friendlysrestaurants.com

magneticnorth 6y ago
Imo, specifically associating it with Asian restaurants is the problem. My guess is that Friendly's use of that phrase dates back to before the days that it was a well-known wink-and-a-nudge phrase related to Asian massage parlors.
- perl4ever 6y ago
  That may be correct, but apparently the OED has a citation for this definition from 1999. Which means that Friendly's used it for nearly two decades while it was a recognized double entendre. https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/294866/when-did-happy-ending-get-used-as-a-euphemism https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/294866/when-did-... I'm not sure there's a clear boundary between the usages where the second one just jumped out of nowhere. Someone in the thread linked above mentions lyrics from 1978 that mention a "happy ending": https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/olivianewtonjohn/alittlemorelove.html https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/olivianewtonjohn/alittlemore...
  - cafard 6y ago
    A double entendre recognized by some, perhaps. I am admittedly pretty tuned out of a lot of popular culture, but I had never heard this.
    - perl4ever 6y ago
      People may have different opinions on whether one should be aware of it, indeed. You can point to an authoritative source like the OED, and at the same time question whether it really penetrated to everyone. Considering that, as I wrote, it was used until 2018 by one restaurant chain, that might be a plausible estimate of when it became commonly known to most people. So is it reasonable to come down like a ton of bricks on someone in 2021? Is it fair to say that 19 years is not enough time to adjust, while 22 years is more than enough?

magneticnorth 6y ago

Imo, specifically associating it with Asian restaurants is the problem. My guess is that Friendly's use of that phrase dates back to before the days that it was a well-known wink-and-a-nudge phrase related to Asian massage parlors.

perl4ever 6y ago
That may be correct, but apparently the OED has a citation for this definition from 1999. Which means that Friendly's used it for nearly two decades while it was a recognized double entendre. https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/294866/when-did-happy-ending-get-used-as-a-euphemism https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/294866/when-did-... I'm not sure there's a clear boundary between the usages where the second one just jumped out of nowhere. Someone in the thread linked above mentions lyrics from 1978 that mention a "happy ending": https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/olivianewtonjohn/alittlemorelove.html https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/olivianewtonjohn/alittlemore...
- cafard 6y ago
  A double entendre recognized by some, perhaps. I am admittedly pretty tuned out of a lot of popular culture, but I had never heard this.
  - perl4ever 6y ago
    People may have different opinions on whether one should be aware of it, indeed. You can point to an authoritative source like the OED, and at the same time question whether it really penetrated to everyone. Considering that, as I wrote, it was used until 2018 by one restaurant chain, that might be a plausible estimate of when it became commonly known to most people. So is it reasonable to come down like a ton of bricks on someone in 2021? Is it fair to say that 19 years is not enough time to adjust, while 22 years is more than enough?