# “Streets ahead” from Community in the wild used for real! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** ai\ **Created:** [September 23, 2023, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566 "2023-09-23T00:12:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/1 "2023-09-23T00:12:07Z")
I was listening to a science and technology podcast called _Babbage_ produced by _The Economist_ and the guest used “streets ahead” as a serious way to discuss certain approaches to using AI! [Here](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/babbage-from-the-economist/id508376907) at time mark 29:24. Anyone with other sightings of usage not as knowing reference to the show? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/2 "2023-09-23T00:48:29Z")
Today I learned… > **[“Streets Ahead”](https://notoneoffbritishisms.com/2012/02/01/streets-ahead/)** > > Wow, this is a tricky one. I confess that I was not even aware of the expression until a reader named Gareth commented, “Is ‘streets ahead’ well-established in American sources? E… ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/3 "2023-09-23T01:05:35Z")
Thanks for that. So was already an established British phrase, even if usage has been of debatable breadth. Probably the guest did not pick it up from Community after all! ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/4 "2023-09-23T02:09:51Z")
Here’s the scene from _Community_: [https://youtu.be/gCktKQKXNWg?si=5kfkHtCa\_1kj4F5e&t=30](https://youtu.be/gCktKQKXNWg?si=5kfkHtCa_1kj4F5e&t=30) > “Your social skills aren’t exactly streets ahead.” I’m confused about the writers’ intent in the show. Apparently nobody else around the table has heard the expression before, they think Chevy is trying to invent a new expression. But the way Chevy uses the expression is not correct, for two reasons. (a) The British idiom “streets ahead” is never used as an attribute, it is invariably comparative - X is streets ahead of Y. (b) It would not really make sense to negate it, the point is to emphasize that X is _far_ ahead of Y. We might say “Your social skills are streets ahead of Britta’s.” Presumably the idea is that Chevy (as an older guy) has heard the expression, but is trying to pass it off as his own invention? So is the fact that he doesn’t know how to use it an intentional part of the writing, or do the writers not know how to use it? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/5 "2023-09-23T02:11:39Z")
Correct. The full phrase is usually “streets ahead of the competition” like you’re racing in a marathon, and you’re currently placed further along the path. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/6 "2023-09-23T02:14:36Z")
From the article above: > [@](#): > > it started during an online competition for best TV show in which “Community” was vying with a couple of other series. A supporter of the other shows tweeted: “both Modern Family and Glee are streets ahead of your meta bullshit.” The creator of “Community,” Dan Harmon, got wind of this, and, apparently unaware that _streets ahead_ is an actual British expression, spent the next couple of months mocking it online, going so far as to create this [animated video](http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/6243707/public-service-announcement) on the Extranormal site. > > Art started imitating life, or maybe it’s the other way round, with this Twitter exchange between Harmon and a fan: > > > @tim\_stoltz : @[danharmon](http://twitter.com/danharmon) Your hatred of “Glee” has made its way into “Community;” how long till your new favorite phrase makes it? > > > @danharmon : @[tim\_stotz](http://twitter.com/tim_stotz) I’m putting it in the current script, so it’ll be a few weeks. But I have to get the world understanding it by then! > > And sure enough, in the 22 April 2010 episode, Pierce, the character played by Chevy Chase, made a star-crossed attempt to push _streets ahead_ as a catch phrase. Harmon was apparently making fun of it and the person who said it completely ignorant of its established usage. And many of us, like me, have been ignorant of that usage too! ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/7 "2023-09-23T02:21:11Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Harmon was apparently making fun of it and the person who said it completely ignorant of its established usage. I’m still a bit confused about what you mean here. This usage was correct: > [@DSeid](#): > > > “both Modern Family and Glee are streets ahead of your meta bullshit.” So was Harmon making fun of _himself_ for not knowing the expression, in a self-deprecating joke? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/8 "2023-09-23T02:24:25Z")
Harmon was ignorant. His making fun of it was based on his being ignorant of the fact it was an established phrase being used correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/9 "2023-09-23T02:25:11Z")
I realize that he was _initially_ ignorant. But surely by the time he wrote the show he must have known? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/10 "2023-09-23T02:25:55Z")
No. Plus more characters. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/11 "2023-09-23T02:27:54Z")
It does not seem so. I have remained ignorant of that myself until today. Why surprising that he was for a few months? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/12 "2023-09-23T02:30:17Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I have remained ignorant of that myself until today. The way _Community_ is written makes it sound like Chevy really did just invent it. And I assume that you are not particularly invested in it! > [@DSeid](#): > > Why surprising that he was for a few months? Whereas Harmon was so intent on mocking this guy online over an extended period that he _wrote the mockery into his show_, yet at no point did he or any other writer on the show bother to google the expression? I find that… baffling. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/13 "2023-09-23T02:38:44Z")
> **[Community is “streets ahead” of the rest | Earn This](https://earnthis.net/community-is-streets-ahead/)** ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/14 "2023-09-23T02:50:59Z")
And apparently the writer of that article _also_ didn’t bother to google the expression. I find it bizarre that there are only two possibilities with regard to Harmon. (1) Throughout his extended online mockery and into writing it into his show, nobody told him it was an established British idiom, and he never googled it himself. (2) He _did_ find out, but rather than admit his mistake he continued the mockery, as though he were living in some alternate universe where the mockery was justified. Either possibility makes him look an arrogant fool. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/15 "2023-09-23T02:59:06Z")
From the article: **EDIT:** Claimed by amyfairycakes and a commenter, and verified by a friend who lives over there, “streets ahead” is a British/Irish term that’s relatively common over there. Fair enough. Harmon was evidently aware of this but continued unfazed with the mocking anyways. - @amyfairycakes – @[danharmon](http://twitter.com/danharmon) streets ahead is already in common parlance in ireland & UK, it’s not a wacky phrase I just conjured up. - @danharmon – @[amyfairycakes](http://twitter.com/amyfairycakes) You’re telling me the only two words you put together that moved me aren’t yours? But aren’t you a writer? You said “meta.” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/16 "2023-09-23T03:01:49Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > From the article: Sure, but that was obviously added after the original article was written, when a commenter pointed it out. The author wrote an entire long article about an expression without bothering to google it. That’s incomprehensible to me. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/17 "2023-09-23T03:02:49Z")
The point is, it verifies that Harmon was told about it. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/18 "2023-09-23T03:04:59Z")
Oh, yeah, I did see that, but “was evidently aware” seemed a bit uncertain. If he was aware, I think that’s a terrible look for Harmon. Why continue to mock an unremarkable idiom in another dialect, to which you ascribed the connotation street=cool that doesn’t exist because of your ignorance of the idiom, as though you live in an alternate universe where it _was_ just coined by a random guy on the internet? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/19 "2023-09-23T03:49:09Z")
Because you are a bit of a jerk? I mean the making fun of the person’s word choice was already being a bit of an ass, and by then he was committed to it. He doubled down on punching down. Yeah he seems to be a bit of a bully and an ass. Good show though! ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566/20 "2023-09-23T04:37:13Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Harmon was ignorant. Streets behind. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-ahead-from-community-in-the-wild-used-for-real/990566.md?page=2)