51Թ

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Dear John

noun

Informal.
  1. a letter from a woman informing her boyfriend or fiancé that she is ending their relationship or informing her husband that she wants a divorce:

    Nothing is worse for a soldier's morale than getting a Dear John.

  2. any letter terminating a relationship.


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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of Dear John1

First recorded in 1940–45
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

This one differs from something like, “The Notebook,” or “Message in a Bottle,” or “Dear John,” in that there's actually two stories going on.

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Swift doesn’t portray herself precisely as a victim as she did in old tunes such as “Dear John” or “All Too Well,” to name two of her masterpieces about unscrupulous men; nor is there anything dewy-eyed about “The Alchemy,” which likens falling for a new guy to a chemical imbalance.

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“I accept it for all editors who toil in the darkness of an editing room ... to create a unique, believable world born to the imagination. And most of all, I want to thank John, my dear John.”

From

But not long after Mr. Angeloni opened his account, he got his own Dear John letter.

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Supporters of the kakariki karaka - a green parakeet - put up billboards reading: "Dear John, don't disrupt the pecking order".

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Dearborn HeightsDear John letter