A phrase from historical newspaper personal ads, explained with real examples from the archive.
The classic opening of a missed connection: a question addressed to someone the writer saw but did not speak to.
| Type | Historical phrase |
|---|---|
| Earliest example in the archive | May 27, 1877, Chicago Daily Tribune |
| Most common | 1860s to the 1920s |
Will the lady who, or will the gentleman who, followed by a place, a time and a detail of dress, is the grammar of the missed connection. The archive has them on streetcars, in a drug store and in a box at the opera. The details did the work: a lavender dress on the Farnam Street car, a bouquet of pink roses on the Navy Yard line.
PERSONAL—FRIDAY, 5 P. M. WILL LADY IN black in drug store who recognized gents on corner send address to A 16, Tribune office.
WILL YOUNG LADY WHO WORE BOUQUET OF pink roses on navy-yard car, and got off at 8th and G sts. s.e., at 6 p.m. April 24th, communicate with gentleman who sat just in…
WILL YOUNG LADY WHO, FRIDAY EVENING about 8 o'clock, rode in 14th. st. car with a gentleman from L st. and changed for Georgetown, and who noticed gentleman seated in…
WILL the tall gentleman who sat opposite brunette young lady on Park avenue car Saturday about four p. m. address U. 56, care Bee.
WILL the lady who occupied, with others, the second box from the stage on the right hand side of the second floor of the Tivoli, on the evening of Sunday, the 12th day…
The form carried straight through to the missed connections sections of alt-weeklies and Craigslist, and it survives in apps that offer a missed connections category today.
All dictionary entries · The Personals Archive · How to write a personal ad
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