Back in the day

Posted by Smokey Stover on April 27, 2005

In Reply to: Back in the day posted by Diane Percival on April 27, 2005

: Where did the expression "back in the day" come from?

"Back in the day" is currently a great favorite of American writers for television wishing to evoke a big-city ambience, with people talking about how their neighborhood used to be. It's probably not very old. It's a slangy and elliptical derivative of "back in my day" or "back in the old days," both of which have been in use a long time. SS