all-American
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: enpr: ôl′ə-mĕr′ĭ-kən
ipa: /ˌɔːl əˈmɛɹ.ɪ.kən/
ipa: /ˌɔl əˈmɛɹ.ɪ.kən/
Etymology: From all- + American. Americanism first recorded in the 1880s; the substantive usage originating early on as an ellipsis of all-American athlete, player, team; thereafter transferred to apply broadly to people or things as in All-American boy, girl, family.
Senses: examples: text: "All-American" Transformers. Perfected first, from the stand-point of correct engineering, by proper turns radio, impedance and shielding—then, in our latest models, given the finishing touches of outward beauty that the more critical eye demanded. […] Your dealer has "All-American" Transformers.
ref: 1922 December, “The New ‘All-American’ Audio Frequency Transformers [advertisement]”, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Radio News, volume 4, number 6, New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, →OCLC, page 1221:
text: The DC-10 with a GE engine would be wrongfully touted as an all-American airplane. The GE engine was part French. The DC-10 had Italian fuselage sections. There was little awareness of the subcontracts with offshore suppliers.
ref: [2001], James West, chapter 8, in The End of an Era: My Story of the L-1011, [Philadelphia, Pa.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 71:
text: One month director John Woo might be directing Jackie Chan in Rumble in the Bronx (1996), and the next an all-American cast in Broken Arrow (1999) or Face Off (2000),^([sic]) both with John Travolta.
ref: 2009, William J. Palmer, “Neo-spin”, in The Films of the Nineties: The Decade of Spin, New York, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan, →DOI, →ISBN, page 218:
text: Her name [Kate Spade] became a shorthand for the cute, clever bags that were an instant hit with cosmopolitan women in the early stages of their careers and, later, young girls — status symbols of a more attainable, all-American sort than a Fendi clutch or Chanel bag.
ref: 2018 June 5, Jonah Engel Bromwich, Vanessa Friedman, Matthew Schneier, “Kate Spade, whose handbags carried women into adulthood, is dead at 55”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 06 Jun 2018:
glosses: Comprising things that are wholly from the United States of America; completely made in the United States.
examples: text: The [Davy] Crockett revival of the 1950's engineered by Walt Disney presented an all-American boy scout type as a mass-culture hero.
ref: 1968, Richard M[ercer] Dorson, “Folklore in Relation to American Studies”, in Ray B[roadus] Browne, Richard H. Crowder, Virgil L. Lokke, William T. Stafford, editors, Frontiers of American Culture, [West Lafayette, Ind.]: Purdue University Studies, →OCLC, page 191:
text: Amelia [Earhart] looked the part of an all-American girl—pretty, confident yet slightly demure, exhibiting not a trace of brashness.
ref: 2010, Kathleen C. Winters, “Off and Running”, in Amelia Earhart: The Turbulent Life of an American Icon, New York, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 89:
text: Tom Sawyer may have been called an all-American boy because his thoughts and actions were typical of the thoughts and actions of all American boys.
ref: 2012, Larzer Ziff, “America as Middle Class: Adolescence, Frank Merriwell, Penrod”, in All-American Boy (Discovering America; 4), Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, →ISBN, page 95:
text: His name was Nate, and he was the definition of an all-American small-town guy. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and wore a leather jacket with an eagle on the back. He was tall and had a strong, confident walk.
ref: 2014 March 26, Matthew Quaine Thompkins, “Hide the Gun”, in The Travels of the Black Raven, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 249:
glosses: Regarded as embodying the ideal qualities of the United States; typically American; (specifically) of a person: courageous, heroic; honest, wholesome, etc.
examples: text: The highly anticipated all-American matchup between Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe — marking the first US Open semifinals between two US men in nearly 20 years — will cost you quite a few Honey Deuces to attend.
ref: 2024 September 6, Jordan Valinsky, “Ticket prices for the all-American men’s matchup at the US Open are surging”, in CNN:
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: Alternative letter-case form of All-American.
Synonyms: American as apple pie
Derived terms: All-American Canal
all-Americanness
Related terms: All-America