Expression: 'Sorry, never come across the late lamented so I can't react.'

[Tom]

[Alan]

Hi Tom,

Yes, this is conversational, chatty, informal and is short, as you say, for I have never come across. 'Late' refers to someone who has recently died or at least within recent memory. 'Lamented' means literally 'mourned' and the whole expression 'late lamented' is a conventional expression referrring respecfully to someone whose death is mourned.

A
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