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as long as it was black

English translation: Only in black

07:59 Nov 25, 2013
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Other
English term or phrase: as long as it was black
DW drums started out named Drum Workshop in 1972 as a teaching studio in Santa Monica, California run by a professional drummer called Don Lombardi. One-on-one lessons were available there through the week sometimes with seminars at the weekend. Don needed to utilise the space he was renting more effectively and began selling sticks, books and other drum related bits. He then came up with a design for a product which was so simple most of the drum world probably didn’t realise it needed it: an adjustable canister throne called ‘Carry All’ with a larger than usual 14” top. Prior to this if you bought one of these cannister thrones from Ludwig -who manufactured it first - or any other manufacturer, it was fixed at 24” high. These thrones were made from a drum shell and covered to match the rest of your kit. It looked great but the problem was you couldn’t change your mind about how high you wanted to sit. Obviously an adjustable seat was a very good idea especially if you wanted somewhere to put your smaller ‘traps’ to carry them to the gig as lots of people did. And DW took the Henry Ford attitude so it came in any colour you wanted - as long as it was black!

Would someone please clarify for me what this last sentence is supposed to mean? I do understand its parts (taken separately), but I just can't get the entire point: now it says "any colour", now "it was black" - it sounds kind of contradictory to me. Or is there something I just can't see here, being no native English speaker?
Andrew Vdovin
Local time: 22:53
Selected answer:Only in black
Explanation:
This was a joking remark made by Henry Ford about the Model T Ford, the first car to be mass-produced on a large scale. They were all black. he said customers could have "any color they wanted, as long as it was black". So in effect, they couldn't have any color they wanted, they could only have black.
Selected response from:

Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:53
Grading comment
Thank you Jack! Thanks everybody!!!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +15Only in black
Jack Doughty
4 +2the only colour available was black
Tony M
3 +2it came only in black
Edith Kelly


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +15
Only in black


Explanation:
This was a joking remark made by Henry Ford about the Model T Ford, the first car to be mass-produced on a large scale. They were all black. he said customers could have "any color they wanted, as long as it was black". So in effect, they couldn't have any color they wanted, they could only have black.

Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:53
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 276
Grading comment
Thank you Jack! Thanks everybody!!!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M
1 min
  -> Thank you.
agree  Edith Kelly: I had the same idea split seconds later
1 min
  -> Thank you.
agree  BrigitteHilgner: Ooops - the system must be slow - I did not see your answer when I wrote my (superfluous) comment.
2 mins
  -> Thank you. That sometimes happens to me too.
agree  Charles Davis: The early ones (1908-13) were available in grey, green, blue or red, but not in black. He standardised to black in 1914, supposedly because black paint was cheapest and most durable: anything to reduce production costs.
8 mins
  -> Thank you for that additional information.
agree  Terry Richards
8 mins
  -> Thank you.
agree  Coqueiro
11 mins
  -> Thank you.
agree  Barbara Carrara
12 mins
  -> Thank you.
agree  writeaway
22 mins
  -> Thank you.
agree  Arabic & More
1 hr
  -> Thank you.
agree  Parvathi Pappu: agree
2 hrs
  -> Thank you.
agree  Yvonne Gallagher
2 hrs
  -> Thank you.
agree  Thayenga: Short and to the point. Happy Monday, Jack. :)
3 hrs
  -> Thank you.
agree  Jean-Claude Gouin
7 hrs
  -> Тhank you.
agree  Anna Herbst: A very well known quote.
16 hrs
  -> Thank you.
agree  Phoenix III
16 hrs
  -> Thank you.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
it came only in black


Explanation:
this is simply a saying that you can chose a colour - but the only colour you can chose is black. The item is only available in black.

Edith Kelly
Switzerland
Local time: 17:53
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 24

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Arabic & More
1 hr
agree  Jean-Claude Gouin
7 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
the only colour available was black


Explanation:
It's a famous quote from Henry Ford, who invented mass-production of cars.

Tony M
France
Local time: 17:53
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 168

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Adrian Liszewski
8 mins
  -> Thanks, Adrian!
agree  Jean-Claude Gouin
7 hrs
  -> Merci, J-C ! :-)
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