"stood up"

Posted by Bob on December 13, 2006

In Reply to: "Stood up" posted by pamela on December 13, 2006

: : : I've looked, but can't find any source for "stood up" meaning that someone who you have a date with doesn't show. I wondered whether it had something to do with dancing (i.e. the person who is supposed to be dancing with you leaves you standing). Any ideas?

: : I, too, looked, but without success. However, leaving someone standing did not happen only at dance halls. In the U.S., two of the most famous places where people agreed to meet (and sometimes got stood up) were the Hotel Biltmore clock, and the four-faced clock in the Main Concourse of Grand Central Terminal. The Waldorf Hotel also had a notable clock, even more impressive than the Biltmore clock, but the phrase, "Under the clock," always referred to the Biltmore clock. Still, I'd wager that more people met, or were stood up, at the Grand Central clock.

: : From what I've written above, it's obvious that I think being stood up means being left standing somewhere wondering where your date is.
: : SS

:
: It was only that I was thinking that many more people must have been stood up while seated - e.g. waiting in a cafe, waiting at home and so on and there doesn't seem to be a phrase for that. Pamela

You might stand up in expectation of meeting someone, then sit down after the no-show. You're waiting for the doorbell to ring, it gets late, you go to the window to peek out ... standing up in anticipation seems normal.