About that word ‘top notch’.

As a Brit I associate it with ‘times past’. (The 19th century specifically). I used to (maybe a couple of decade ago) associate the phrase as spam - a way for snake oil salesmen and spammers to attempt to elevate itself above its actual class of ‘worthless shit’.

I looked it up …

The phrase “top-notch” can indeed be associated with spam emails. It is listed among various words and phrases that spam filters commonly flag as potential indicators of unsolicited or promotional content

Recently, I felt that it had disappeared, at least from my world … until 2024 - where it seems to have found new life - with people who I know are not spammers.

The resurgence is interesting, because I still can’t disassociate the phrase from the action of ‘avoid at all costs’.