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A widely reported speech by Mr. Brampton — soon to become prime minister — “poured contempt upon the fear of the plague, which he characterized throughout as the ‘Russian epidemic,’ and ended with the advice to keep a cool head, to preserve the British spirit of sturdy resistance instead of shutting our doors and bringing the country to commercial ruin.

The acronym may still be used in reported speech and official documents but will usually be accompanied by an explanation i.e. specific information on a particular ethnic group not being available.

In general use dialogue rather than reported speech.

The second use is “with a verb, introducing reported speech”, and the earliest example is from Time magazine in 1970: “Afterward, a girl came up to me and said, ‘You kinda look interested in this; did you know there are civil rights for women?’

We shouldn’t be surprised, given the song’s interest in reported speech and what “they say,” to find that this phrase is a citation.