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order of the day, the

Idioms  
  1. The prevailing or expected mode, the current agenda, as in Volatility is the order of the day in high-tech stocks, or T-shirts and blue jeans were the order of the day for the picnic. This expression, dating from the late 1600s, originally alluded to the subject of debate in a legislature on a particular day, as well as to specific commands given to troops. Its figurative use dates from the second half of the 1700s.


Example Sentences

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Expropriations became the order of the day, the land typically redistributed among the peasant and rancher majority.

From Slate ● May 29, 2017

Bright polo tops and cargo shorts are the order of the day, the pigs get scrubbed and the barn occasionally receives a shot of air freshener.

From Reuters ● Jun. 14, 2010

General Carl A. Spaatz issued a special order of the day: the strategic air war had been won; hereafter U.S. heavy bombers would range on tactical missions.

From Time Magazine Archive

"Here is the general order of the day," the adjutant said, as he came in with Captain O'Connor.

From With Moore at Corunna by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

The school was decorated with flags and evergreens; Sunday togs were the order of the day; the Doctor wore his scarlet hood, and the masters their best gowns.

From The Fifth Form at Saint Dominic's A School Story by Talbot Baines Reed

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