"does Macy's tell Gimbel's" meaning in English

See does Macy's tell Gimbel's in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proverb

Forms: Does Macy's tell Gimbel's [canonical]
Etymology: Macy's and Gimbels (without the apostrophe) were popular department stores located within two blocks of one another in Midtown Manhattan in New York City; the latter store is now defunct. Head templates: {{head|en|proverb|head=Does Macy's tell Gimbel's?}} Does Macy's tell Gimbel's?
  1. (US, dated, colloquial, rhetorical question) A rhetorical question with the implied answer being that competitors do not share business secrets with one another. Wikipedia link: Gimbels, Macy's Tags: US, colloquial, dated, rhetoric Categories (topical): English rhetorical questions
    Sense id: en-does_Macy's_tell_Gimbel's-en-proverb-xHoPY7SW Categories (other): American English, English entries with incorrect language header, English proverbs, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries
{
  "etymology_text": "Macy's and Gimbels (without the apostrophe) were popular department stores located within two blocks of one another in Midtown Manhattan in New York City; the latter store is now defunct.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Does Macy's tell Gimbel's",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb",
        "head": "Does Macy's tell Gimbel's?"
      },
      "expansion": "Does Macy's tell Gimbel's?",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English proverbs",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "name": "English rhetorical questions",
          "parents": [
            "Rhetorical questions",
            "Idioms",
            "Questions",
            "Sentences",
            "Figures of speech",
            "Multiword terms",
            "Rhetoric",
            "Lemmas",
            "Language",
            "Communication",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1941 January 21, The Washington Post, page 22:",
          "text": "The \"Does Macy's tell Gimbel's?\" gag has been a standard one in New York for many years. It was somewhat shattered last night at the Copacabana, when two young couples were seated at a ringside table and conversed at great length....\"Well, Macy's may not tell Gimbel's,\" said one of the young men, \"But Bloomingdale's does.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1946 January 11, The New York Times, page 24:",
          "text": "In other words the older circuit will give the Johnny-come-lately as little help and comfort as it can. After all, does Macy's tell Gimbel's?",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1947 June 5, The New York Times, page 32:",
          "text": "...As a lesson in merchandising, not only store products, but good-will, this \"Miracle on 34th Street\" is a dandy. Does Macy's tell Gimbel's? It should!",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1966 January 7, Hogan's Heroes:",
          "text": "Col. Hogan (to Col. Klink) Does Macy tell Gimbel?",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A rhetorical question with the implied answer being that competitors do not share business secrets with one another."
      ],
      "id": "en-does_Macy's_tell_Gimbel's-en-proverb-xHoPY7SW",
      "links": [
        [
          "rhetorical question",
          "rhetorical question"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, dated, colloquial, rhetorical question) A rhetorical question with the implied answer being that competitors do not share business secrets with one another."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "colloquial",
        "dated",
        "rhetoric"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Gimbels",
        "Macy's"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "does Macy's tell Gimbel's"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "Macy's and Gimbels (without the apostrophe) were popular department stores located within two blocks of one another in Midtown Manhattan in New York City; the latter store is now defunct.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Does Macy's tell Gimbel's",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb",
        "head": "Does Macy's tell Gimbel's?"
      },
      "expansion": "Does Macy's tell Gimbel's?",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English dated terms",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English eponyms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English proverbs",
        "English rhetorical questions",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1941 January 21, The Washington Post, page 22:",
          "text": "The \"Does Macy's tell Gimbel's?\" gag has been a standard one in New York for many years. It was somewhat shattered last night at the Copacabana, when two young couples were seated at a ringside table and conversed at great length....\"Well, Macy's may not tell Gimbel's,\" said one of the young men, \"But Bloomingdale's does.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1946 January 11, The New York Times, page 24:",
          "text": "In other words the older circuit will give the Johnny-come-lately as little help and comfort as it can. After all, does Macy's tell Gimbel's?",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1947 June 5, The New York Times, page 32:",
          "text": "...As a lesson in merchandising, not only store products, but good-will, this \"Miracle on 34th Street\" is a dandy. Does Macy's tell Gimbel's? It should!",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1966 January 7, Hogan's Heroes:",
          "text": "Col. Hogan (to Col. Klink) Does Macy tell Gimbel?",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A rhetorical question with the implied answer being that competitors do not share business secrets with one another."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "rhetorical question",
          "rhetorical question"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, dated, colloquial, rhetorical question) A rhetorical question with the implied answer being that competitors do not share business secrets with one another."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "colloquial",
        "dated",
        "rhetoric"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Gimbels",
        "Macy's"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "does Macy's tell Gimbel's"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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