There was a WW2-era (and later) catchphrase, common in my youth, but rarely heard today, “all quiet on the western front.” Yes I know the Remarque novel of WW1, a used-to-be high-school English standby; I’m speaking more of the phrase’s adoption in everyday speech.
Here’s an extract from the Wikipedia article on the novel:
The 1930 English translation by Arthur Wesley Wheen gives the title as All Quiet on the Western Front. The literal translation of “Im Westen nichts Neues” is “Nothing New in the West”, with “West” being the war front; this was a routine dispatch used by the German Army.
Brian Murdoch’s 1993 translation would render the phrase as “there was nothing new to report on the western front” within the narrative. Explaining his retention of the original book-title, he says:
Although it does not match the German exactly (there is a different kind of irony in the literal version…), Wheen’s title has justly become part of the English language and is retained here with gratitude.
The phrase “all quiet on the western front” later became popular slang for lack of action (in reference to the Phoney War in World War II’s Western Front).
We’ve been a bit quiet here lately, I’ll acknowledge.
You could say we’re being watchful. We’re waiting for some real news.
How will the Legislature handle consolidation repeal? Will it go to referendum through lack of action in Augusta? Or will they take action, but by their action both stop the referendum and subvert the petitioners’ intent?
What will Maine get for “stimulus” money? How will we use it?
Can John Baldacci channel FDR as well as Obama? (Or is the Obama as FDR conflation a meme already lifeless?)
And there is something positively mesmerizing — and breathtaking, too — about the political and economic happenings on the grand national and international stage.
But watchful we are! And you should be too! Keep your eyes wide open all the time!