I never encountered the frequent use of the phrase "blah blah blah," or "bla bla bla" until a dozen years ago when I moved to El Paso, Texas. I'd certainly heard or seen the phrase from time to time, but it was not a common expression: and when I did see it written, it was usually "blah blah blah."
I was struck at how frequently I heard people use this phrase in El Paso upon my arrival in 2004- much more often than when I lived in California or elsewhere in Texas. I thought perhaps this was a local Borderland colloquialism. But with the rise of social media in the current decade, it quickly became clear that "bla(h) bla(h) bla(h)" was not a modismo chuco: people all over were using it, and often dropping the silent "h" at the end of "blah," making it "bla bla bla." Was this a sign of the ever-changing English language?
I now know the answer: apparently not, because I stumbled upon this*: it's a close-up of part of a cartoon postcard from ~1944, when World War II was raging and Americans experienced rationing of meat, sugar, coffee, and other goods. Look at the name of the newspaper in the cartoon! I guess "BLA BLA BLA" goes way way back.
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