• Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      Did it, though? My 90 year old mother used it in the same way since her childhood. I think it’s always been sarcastic, probably from use by lowly soldiers. In the phrase, she pronounces and spells it as “gummint work” even though she would normally say “government.”

    • ealoe@ani.social
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      3 months ago

      Really? I’ve never heard it used that way, not even by old people. Maybe it evolved out of that usage a long time ago