run-of-the-mill
ordinary, not exciting
TRANSLATION
run-of-the-mill = von der Stange, alltäglich, mittelmäßig --- GOOGLE INDEX run-of-the-mill: approximately 2,000,000 hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Visitors to Cornwall are being offered a daring alternative to the RUN-OF-THE-MILL bed and breakfast hotel.
(BBC News)
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"I'm the same person. People notice me now but I'm just the same John, I'm just RUN-OF-THE-MILL John."
(John Smeaton, Glasgow Airport baggage handler and hero who helped police catch a man who drove a blazing car into the airport building)
(BBC News)
---
"I'm the same person. People notice me now but I'm just the same John, I'm just RUN-OF-THE-MILL John."
(John Smeaton, Glasgow Airport baggage handler and hero who helped police catch a man who drove a blazing car into the airport building)
Did you
know?
run-of-the-mill
adjective
- ordinary and not special or exciting in any way
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
WORD ORIGIN
There are several 'run of the...' phrases that have been used to characterise the generic quality of a commodity. All these phrases generally refer to products that come direct from the mill in a raw or ungraded state and usually with some imperfections:
- run-of-the-kiln are bricks of all kinds and qualities just as they come from the oven
- run-of-the-mine means raw materials like coal and iron ore that come out of the mine in various sizes and qualities mixed together
Run-of-the-mill is American in origin. Mill in this context refers to a textile mill and describes fabrics and clothes of ordinary quality, exactly as they come off the mill without additional processing. Early use of this phrase can be found in an advertisement from Cook, Taylor & Co. of Lowell, Massachusetts in 1895:
"Seconds and the run of the mill, but for all wearing purposes just the same as firsts at twice the price."
Although the sentence sounds a bit awkward to the "modern ear", the message is that seconds (clothes with small imperfections) and run-of-the-mill garments can be had for a bargain at half the price of higher quality clothes (firsts).
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SYNONYMS
bog-standard, boilerplate, common, everyday, garden-variety, general, humdrum, mediocre, middling, middle of the road, ordinary, passable, regular, so-so, standard, undistinguished, unexceptional, usual, vanilla, white bread
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
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ANTONYMS
above par, atypical, exceptional, extraordinary, noteworthy, rare, uncommon, unusual
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO YOUR CONVERSATION TODAY
say something like:
"We're proud of our high standards, we don't do run-of-the-mill products."
adjective
- ordinary and not special or exciting in any way
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
WORD ORIGIN
There are several 'run of the...' phrases that have been used to characterise the generic quality of a commodity. All these phrases generally refer to products that come direct from the mill in a raw or ungraded state and usually with some imperfections:
- run-of-the-kiln are bricks of all kinds and qualities just as they come from the oven
- run-of-the-mine means raw materials like coal and iron ore that come out of the mine in various sizes and qualities mixed together
Run-of-the-mill is American in origin. Mill in this context refers to a textile mill and describes fabrics and clothes of ordinary quality, exactly as they come off the mill without additional processing. Early use of this phrase can be found in an advertisement from Cook, Taylor & Co. of Lowell, Massachusetts in 1895:
"Seconds and the run of the mill, but for all wearing purposes just the same as firsts at twice the price."
Although the sentence sounds a bit awkward to the "modern ear", the message is that seconds (clothes with small imperfections) and run-of-the-mill garments can be had for a bargain at half the price of higher quality clothes (firsts).
---
SYNONYMS
bog-standard, boilerplate, common, everyday, garden-variety, general, humdrum, mediocre, middling, middle of the road, ordinary, passable, regular, so-so, standard, undistinguished, unexceptional, usual, vanilla, white bread
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
---
ANTONYMS
above par, atypical, exceptional, extraordinary, noteworthy, rare, uncommon, unusual
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO YOUR CONVERSATION TODAY
say something like:
"We're proud of our high standards, we don't do run-of-the-mill products."
