# Origin/meaning of ''giving the air''

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-meaning-of-giving-the-air/250609>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 16, 2004, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-meaning-of-giving-the-air/250609 "2004-06-16T04:00:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-meaning-of-giving-the-air/250609/1 "2004-06-16T04:00:34Z")

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In an old “Our Gang” short, [Big Ears](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0021658/combined), Wheezer has overheard his parents arguing and is really upset that they’re going to get a “buh-NORSE.” He doesn’t know what it is, but it doesn’t sound good. One of the other kids, though, (Donald “Toughie” Haines) tells him that it means “His dad is giving her the air.”

I think I heard that phrase used in other “Our Gang” shorts, but it’s not something commonly heard nowadays. Any ideas on the origin?

(The closest thing I could think of was “letting in the air” in Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants,” but that’s something else.)

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-meaning-of-giving-the-air/250609/2 "2004-06-16T04:18:01Z")

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I found this at a Russian [American slang](http://lib.ru/ENGLISH/american_idioms.txt_Piece40.16) site:

> [@](#):
>
> [get the bounce] or [get the gate] {v. phr.}, {slang} 1. or [get the air] To lose one’s sweetheart; not be kept for a friend or lover. \* /Joe is sad because he just got the gate from his girl./ \* /Shirley was afraid she might get the air from her boyfriend if she went out with other boys while he was away./ 2. or [get the sack] also [get the hook] To be fired; lose a job. \*/Uncle Willie can’t keep a job; he got the sack today for sleeping on the job./ \* /You’re likely to get the bounce if you are absent from work too much./ Contrast: GIVE THE BOUNCE.
> 
> [give the bounce] or [give the gate] {v. phr.}, {slang} 1. or [give the air] To stop being a friend or lover to (a person); separate from. \* /Mary gave John the bounce after she saw him dating another girl./ \* /Bill and Jane had an argument and Bill is giving her the gate./ 2. or [give the sack] also [give the hook] To fire from a job; dismiss. \*/The ball team gave Joe the gate because he never came to practice./Contrast: GET THE BOUNCE.

The meaning is clear: Air = distance, space. Can’t say much about the origin, although it appears to be just one of many variations on the basic theme.

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-meaning-of-giving-the-air/250609/3 "2004-06-16T04:50:51Z")

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Mainly used in the 1920’s. A cite can be found, in a modified usage, around 1900.