'express' (intransitive)

[Barnhart]

The conductor on the commuter train from Poughkeepsie to New York City
last Saturday said:

After Croton this train will express to the city.  (Meaning that it will
stop at only a few stops after Croton).

Regards,
David

Barnhart at highlands.com

American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on Friday, July 21, 2006
at 12:33 PM -0500 wrote:
>---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Damien Hall <halldj at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
>Subject:      'express' (intransitive)
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>
>The 18 and 19 July 2006 pages of Stephen Colbert's hilarious desk
>calendar give
>excerpts from "Stephen Colbert's Guide to Expressing Like a TV
>Journalist".
>The pages consist of a photo of Colbert making some exaggerated
>expression and
>a quotation underneath it portraying the thoughts of the journalist seen
>making
>the expression:  so the 18 July page has him with a quizzical look, one
>eyebrow
>theatrically raised, and the quotation is 'Your comments evoke a
>skepticism in
>me that I choose to convey smugly.'
>
>So *express* is used intransitively, with the meaning 'make a facial
>expression'.  This definition isn't in *OED* or *MW*.  Has anyone come
>across
>it before?
>
>Damien Hall
>University of Pennsylvania
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org