Infinite vocabulary

[Dennis R. Preston]

"They're joining the American Dialect Society?"

dInIs



>Here is an interesting and I think novel observation by one of my students.
>
>". . . almost any verb can be paired with almost any noun to mean sexual
>intercourse. As long as the context is right, such as 'I think they're' or
>'They are' and there is the proper tone, normal everyday verbs and nouns
>become synonymous with intercourse such as 'knocking knees,' 'butting heads,'
>'planting the flag,' or even something not as obvious like 'logging on' or
>'walking the plank' can be used. I feel  that this makes the importance of
>context and tone most obvious because of the immense number of words that can
>mean the same thing if the context and tone are the same."
>
>It's a commonplace to note the abundance of terms for sexual intercourse (and
>drunkenness, to name another), and some collectors have even tried to compile
>complete lists; but this is a suggestion that, at least in this category, the
>list is infinite. - Allan Metcalf


Dennis R. Preston
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736