Learn English – Start the presses!

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So I've googled around (even for images!) with the phrase "Start the presses!", in order to find out what it means and what its etymology is. My results are inconclusive. It seems to be used when an important discovery was made, or late breaking important news events unfold, e.g. as in this article in Nature about a new material (with tongue-in-cheeck?)

What does it mean? Who would use it when? When was it first used?

Best Answer

I think it is the rephrasing of the more common:

"Stop the Press" or "Stop the Presses":

  • is a phrase stemming from the printed news media industry as an exclamation signifying the discovery of the need to change the content of an issue just before, or during its printing.

  • Since this meant that the printing press literally had to be stopped or delayed and much of the existing copies of a publication which had already printed had to be discarded - which carried extreme cost, it is a phrase indicating the arrival of extremely significant news or the discovery of an extremely grave error.

  • The phrase is common in an idiomatic context, referring to the discovery of significant information and is often used sarcastically.

(Wikipedia)

According to the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Americam Idioms also:

Stop the Music and (stop the presses):

  • (Inf.) Stop everything!; Hold it! (Presses refers to the printing presses used to print newspapers. This means that there is recent news of such magnitude that the presses must be stopped so a new edition can be printed immediately.)

    • John (entering the room): Stop the music! There's a fire in the kitchen! Mary: Good grief! Let's get out of here! "Stop the presses!" shouted Jane. "I have an announcement."

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