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'bet that worked a treat"

Posted by James Briggs on December 05, 2003

In Reply to: 'bet that worked a treat" posted by Ebony on December 05, 2003

: : : In a transPacific exchange the Aussie blond(e) suggested that a bit of behavior probably was destined to have a positive result (I guess). She said "bet that worked a treat". I thought I had heard just about everything, but that is really a new one. Does anyone have an idea of its origin and how widely it is used today.
: : : I have never heard it in the States, but I may start to change that right now.

: : A treat = terrifically, according to ?British English from A to Zed? by Norman Schur (FirstHarperPerennial edition, 1991). The only place I've heard it is BBC America.

:
: I heard it once during an exchange in a diner on Lombard Street in 1967 between two ladies discussing the merits of waterproof mascara: perhaps this was the first instance of use in the continental US.

It's quite a common saying in the UK and, by the quote, in Oz too. I've known it since the 1930s.

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