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"out of thin air"

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September 06, 2003, 09:11
tinman
"out of thin air"
Where did the expression "out of thin air", meaning "out of nowhere", come from? I've searched a bit, but not much. Can anybody help me out?

Tinman
September 06, 2003, 09:21
tinman
quote:
Originally posted by tinman:
Can anybody help me out?

Yes, I know, the response is, "I'll be glad to help you out. What door did you come in?"

Tinman
September 06, 2003, 11:15
arnie
According to Oxford Reference Online. http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t35.005414 thin air is an idiom meaning into (or out of) a state of being invisible or nonexistent
September 06, 2003, 12:20
<Asa Lovejoy>
As opposed to out of fat air?
November 01, 2003, 19:30
Kalleh
Somehow I missed this thread.

I wondered if it had anything to do with the lower atmospheric pressure that is experienced in the mountains. I looked it up in Google and found this etymology of "air": " ETYMOLOGY: 13th Century: via Old French and Latin from Greek aer the lower atmosphere"

Aren't there higher and lower atmospheric pressures? Why would "air" come from a word for "lower atmosphere"? Did I miss something?