"sort of" is elitist?

[Wilson Gray]

On Sep 27, 2004, at 12:36 PM, sagehen wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       sagehen <sagehen at WESTELCOM.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "sort of" is elitist?
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>
>  My impression is that adverbial "sort of" was a British usage before
> it
> became American.  That could account for this /elitist/ taint that some
> perceive.
>
> On another thread----
> Gotta go with Wilson on "exQUISitely."  Something about that shift of
> emphasis seems to turn it into a patent exaggeration. Not prissy,
> shrill,
> gay.......just overstated. (And if "forMIDable" is dying away, that's
> fine
> with me.)
> A. Murie

Amen, brother!

-Wilson