Expression 'all is swell' - How commonly known is it in fact?

[Fan Of Arabian Horses]

Hi,

I yesterday read this term and its writer claimed it was quite natural. My question now is how commonly known is it in fact?

Thanks for answering

Michael

[Kitosdad]

Maybe OK in America.

In England, "All is well", would be correct, but not often heard.
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[Alan]

Hi,

In the 19th century people were employed to call out 'All is well' and then give the time during the night as they patrolled the streets. Tough luck if you happened to be asleep and the caller woke you up!

Alan
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[Milanya]

[Fan Of Arabian Horses]

hi all, hope you all are well, too

thank you for responding.

Alan>> reading your short story I imagined ppl getting awake from the callers crying out: "Have a nice sleep......, all is well!!!!!!!". Btw, from what I have heard from an English chatroom even the US Americans do know the night callers (they call them criers) and this particular term.

Milanya>> since you mentioned the expression was an elderly one from somewhat 50-60 years ago I wondered whether the Danes are living in the past. At least, the person who mentioned it was a Dane.

[Esl_Expert]

Hello Michael,

As Milanya has already mentioned, using the word "swell" to mean "good"/"excellent" is an old-fashioned usage (AmE). Though you will still hear it used that way occasionally, I would agree that it is nowadays "passe".
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=80567&dict=CALD

You posted the sentence "All is swell" and that does not sound like a particularly typical usage to me, neither as an old-fashioned usage nor as a possible current usage. To be honest, I had originally assumed that your thread title contained a typo, and that you had intended to write "All is well" instead.

In view of the fact that your sentence was uttered by a Dane, I might suggest this is simply a case of "Danenglish". Perhaps this person was simply confusing it with "All is well". Or perhaps your Danish friend has occasionally heard people say "All's swell" as a deliberate play on words (a play on the expression All's well that ends well ).

On the other hand, maybe your Danish friend picked up the adjective "swell" from watching lots of old movies. I can imagine James Cagney and Mickey Rooney using the adjective "swell", for example.

Here is a video in which Judy Garland and Fred Astaire use "swell" as a noun and sing about being "a couple of swells". (From a movie made in 1948.)


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