Meaning of this phrase, "last in and second out"?
What is the meaning of this phrase “last in and second out”?
Here is the context in which the phrase was used:
“Amanda is a free thinker, trapped by social convention. Last in and second out.”
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6 Answers
I think that would be a sly reference to being late to endorse something that’s hip. Last in… every other free thinker is doing it; second out… rejects the idea after somebody cooler has done so.
I like it.
So if the two sentences are actually related, she’s not a cool “free thinker” after all?
Or could the meaning be inferred from computer science or accounting?
That’s what I get from it @ShaChris23. It’s a statement about the flow of situationally cool things. A dig (or ‘dis; wtf is the cool way of saying that?) at the hipsters.
The two sentences are a dead giveaway. The first is obviously being said tongue in cheek, since the second parenthetical phrase “trapped by social convention” denies the first, “Amanda is a free thinker”. The very definition of free thinker is one who uses their own reason to evaluate things, and is not trapped by social convention. Therefore, the second sentence is saying exactly what @Blueroses suggests and is a pun playing off of the LIFO saying that @ShaChris23 suggests with the link above. Amanda doesn’t even know when it’s not cool to be in until the first cool person jumps back out. Clever writing.
Maybe too clever for the author’s own good, since it left @ShaChris23 guessing at its meaning. Did you know that Ernest Hemingway rewrote the very last sentence of A Farewell to Arms 47 times before he was satisfied with it. What finally emerged was far simpler than many of the earlier versions.
@ETpro Thank you ETpro. Yes, I agree, far too clever.
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