Comments on: La La Land

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 19:25:53 +0000

I have records of “La La Land” being used in the 60′s from a Leela Rogotzke. She owned a circuit board printing company in 63 called Lees Electronics. So the Lee was the professional side, and the La was her party side (Lee-La) so when she was off work she would say she was off to La La Land

By: Ken

Ken — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:55:07 +0000

Older use of the term is french which means “there there” and can also mean “delight”. La la land was clearly in use in English as early as 1903 based on its record in the Canadian Parliament.

It could have been an import from Swahili or from French, meaning the land of delight.

By: Ken

Ken — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:46:44 +0000

I found a use of the phrase “everything will be fine in la la land” in the 1907 report of the Canadian Parliament here:
http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=O91XAAAAYAAJ&q=%22la+la+land%22&dq=%22la+la+land%22&source=bl&ots=FWNOY7opax&sig=MANs13s_AW_o3Y5oDvkHhJzuOVA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=GMmGUL2PE8Op0QWPqYCIBA&redir_esc=y

Also, it is found as a phrase in an old German song about the fatherland from the 1800′s.
http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=bfUsAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA140&lpg=PA140&dq=%22la+la+land%22&source=bl&ots=ZoSISoKmVv&sig=duJYTWeQk8NSfnqGTCnWstT4Fas&hl=en&sa=X&ei=q8iGUL3tL6bX0QWCwoGQBA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22la%20la%20land%22&f=false

It may have originated as a British mockery of the Germans.

By: Kay Trotman

Kay Trotman — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:59:32 +0000

It’s very curious that in Swahili, LALA Salama means sleep well, or good night. I’ve always known the term lala land to be used in that context…..as in sleep or dreaming. Now that I travel to Africa all the time, I would imagine there has to be some connection with our US terminology La-La Land and the English translation of the Swahili term LaLa Salama. Makes sense to me now, but certainly not growing up, I knew nothing of Swahili.

By: ISADORE PROTECKI

ISADORE PROTECKI — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 15:54:08 +0000

As a child growing up in Detroit, MI 45 years ago, I would hear the term “LA” as a city in California, and thought the city name was spelled “Elay,” an easy misconception for a second grade student. I could not find “Elay” on the California map, so I wondered where people were going. Eventually, I was corrected, and moved to “Elay” 15 years later (Actually, the ‘Beautiful’ San Fernando Valley). With the backbone of the computer porn industry in this area, “E-Lay” seems a more appropriate moniker. As there is also a large Latino influence, “El Lay” may also fit.
Izzy

By: Bob Newberry

Bob Newberry — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 02:16:26 +0000

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I remmember the city being referred to as LA in the mid forties and fifties.

I now reside in Jefferson County, Alabama. The county seat is the City of Birmingham. Birmingham’s current mayor is LArry LAngford, who could be referred to as Mayor Moonbeam (He is currently under indictment for fraud and conspiricy). Since his creative finances have been exposed Birmingham has often been called LA LA Land.

By: Bert Lawrence

Bert Lawrence — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:26:41 +0000

When did people begin using the abbreviation “LA” for Los Angeles? I don’t recall anyone in film or writing that used LA in the early days of Hollywood. I’m feeling that LA came into common usage sometime during the sixties, when the people of Los Angeles began to recognize that they lived in a world class city. Am I wrong?

By: aquart

aquart — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:12:52 +0000

Now, I find “Oh, there, there” to be both obvious and reasonable. It was just funny to discover that la la in ancient Sumerian means joy joy or great joy. And Ul la la is joy, joy, joy!. Which works so much better as an exclamation from a French man looking at a beautiful woman: “Ooh la la!”