What the title says; first documented use of the expression. Please.
The expression “yeah, that just happened” has also been employed as a nonplussed reaction to an unbelievable or absurd experience. According to a post on Metafilter,[2] the earliest known use of the phrase in this context comes from the 2000 comedy film State and Main .
I would have thought it was a Chadlerism.
They mean the opposite of a nonplussed reaction.
I would think nonplussed is right, if the word means what I think it means. And I don’t know what a Chadlerism is. Google turns up zilcho.
What I really wanted to say was, if it’s true that State and Main was the source of “that happened” as a deadpan reaction to some huge occurrence, I worked as a projectionist at a cinema where David Mamet had a preview screening for his friends of his latest film, State and Main, so you might say I started the whole thing, you’re welcome.
Chandler. From Friends.