Hecticity (Christina Aguilera at Grammys)

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>    "BY NOW I am accustomed to all the hecticity of these events."
>    That's what _Christina Aguilera_ said to _Joan Rivers_ on the Grammy
> red carpet the other night.

Now I need to step in to defend a local celebrity.

The word "hecticity" has been used widely for many years, even by savants
from leading institutions of higher education: e.g.:

http://www.ttu.edu/wcenter/9409/msg00298.html (U. Texas, Austin TX, 1994)

http://www.ttu.edu/wcenter/9409/msg00349.html (SUNY, Plattsburgh NY, 1994)

http://www.scar.utoronto.ca/~undergnd/deprecated/98art17-2.htm (U. Toronto,
Toronto ON, 1998 [?])

The word "hecticity" appears in Tamony's word list:

http://www.system.missouri.edu/whmc/invent/tamonyH.htm

The broad-minded ADS scholars should also consider:

(1) Isn't Pittsburgh North Hills vernacular dialect just as "valid" as
other vernaculars, or as Standard English?

(2) Is a 20-year-old singer to be held to the same standard in public
speech as the President of the US?

-- Doug Wilson