Hi!

[Rachel Berardinelli]

Is it not somehow creepy that somebody gets so shook over
some e-mail list to essentially e-stalk somebody, but
thanks for looking, I'm sure your IP address will be safe
with me. I'm still curious as to how one's myspace has
anything to do with my academic record. I was unaware you
had to be boring, plain and reserved in your private life
to be considered intelligent.

As for the whole 'lulz unsubscribe dolt' kind of stuff,
I've already made vain attempts to do so and it has never
worked. So my inbox is always clogged with this garbage,
which is why it was a delayed reaction to another
scintillating message from Wilson about his sugar baby and
his upset tummy box. But I'm sure you all look forward to
Wilson's musings, as this list is a black hole otherwise.

Next time, leave a comment when you visit my myspace.
Thanks.

On Tue, 3 Apr 2007 20:36:51 -0400
  James Harbeck <jharbeck at SYMPATICO.CA> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society
><ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       James Harbeck <jharbeck at SYMPATICO.CA>
> Subject:      Re: Hi!
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>>My, what charming language!
>
>Funny that she goes off on technical competence but can't
>figure out
> how to go to
> http://www.americandialect.org/index.php/amerdial/ads_l_the_american_dialect_society_email_discussion_list/
> and read the instructions: "To leave the list at any
>time, send
> "SIGNOFF ADS-L" the complete body of an email message
>from the
> account which you would like to unsubscribe, to
> listserv at listserv.uga.edu." Highly intelligent people
>make slips of
> the finger all the time, but most of them can find out
>how to do what
> they want to do when they really want to do it.
>
> I was hoping there would be some fascinating usage in
>her email to
> focus on. Perhaps the most interesting question raised
>is how long
> "retarded" has been a common childish term of abuse.
>When I was a kid
> in the '70s, it was common among elementary and
>junior-high kids but
> faded a bit among high-schoolers and was uncommon, if
>memory serves,
> among university students (mid-'80s). But that was in
>Calgary.
>
> OED only gives the technical meaning; it doesn't give
>citations for
> the abusive meaning. I'm sure a probable date of
>incipience for the
> term of abuse could be estimated on the basis of when it
>came into
> common usage in the primary-school educational context;
>there would
> be some latency, no doubt, before it first appeared in
>print in that
> usage, little kids not being much for publishing.
>
> As to Ms. Berardinelli I hope some of her professors are
>on this
> list. But then they probably know what a sweetheart she
>is already.
> Next year, University of New Mexico will unleash this
>scintillating
> intellect on the world! (Assuming she doesn't flunk
>out.) Where, if
> she's lucky, she'll get her butt kicked enough times by
>enough people
> (metaphorically, of course) that she'll smarten up and
>grow up. She's
> studying anthropology. How sweet! I just can't wait to
>see what kind
> of success she'll have with research when she has no
>patience or
> concern for others.
>
> (How do I know all this? Because, like anyone at all, I
>can find it
> out with the easiest Google search. On her myspace page
> (blog.myspace.com/gekrepten) she has the headline "i say
>nothing for
> the good of myself". Would that it were true.)
>
> Ciao,
> James Harbeck.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society -
>http://www.americandialect.org

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