According to the lovely NGram viewer, there were three peaks in the usage.
- 1919-1920, America only
- WWII era, USA and British
- 1997, gradually rising over decades, then falling off. This peak slightly higher than the other two.
David Carter, in “Stonewall”, a book about the Gay Revolution, writes that in the 1960s “until properly introduced it was de rigueur argot to call everybody “miss thing,” (after this, it was discretionary usage)”.
15 years, 3 months.
Record for a SD Zombie?
There was no Ngram viewer 15 years ago, so new data is available.
Eve always made such great contributions to threads.
It means that the beanpole dames in the magazines ain’t it.
The type of ladies who are not allowed to roll in my Mercedes, and instead must roll a Honda playin’ workout tapes by Fonda.