"Silver Tsunami" (first "boomer" files for Social Security)

[Tom Zurinskas]

Thanks Dave and Amy,

Right, there are a bunch of those "old saws."  I had a list at one time.   I had never thought of "parkway" as being named to represent a park we drive through, but that works for me, even though they may not look like parks now.

Point was - why the term "tidal wave" appears to be dropped for "tsunami".  Someone said "tsunami" more accurately reflects the cause, which is an earthquake.  My point was that we had a term we understood, like parkway, even though it wasn't perfectly exact, like the way "parkway" doesn't resemble driving through a park.

So I guess the question why "tidal wave" is dropped and who is responsible for dropping it goes unanswered, unless "tsunami" actually does relfect causation by an earthquake.   Otherwise I prefer "tidal wave" as in m-w.com.

Main Entry: tidal wave
Function: noun
Date: 1851
1: something overwhelming especially in quantity or volume
2 a: an unusually high sea wave that is triggered especially by an earthquake
b: an unusual rise of water alongshore due to strong winds

Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
See truespel.com - and the 4 truespel books plus "Occasional Poems" at authorhouse.com.




> Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2007 20:31:17 -0400
> From: David.Donnell at EARTHLINK.NET
> Subject: Re: "Silver Tsunami" (first "boomer" files for Social Security)
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: David Donnell
> Subject: Re: "Silver Tsunami" (first "boomer" files for Social Security)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I think Tomspel was whupping out this cheesy old saw:
>
> "English is the only language where you drive on a parkway and park
> in a driveway."
>
> Interesting observation/background, in any case.
>
> DD
>
>>Sender: American Dialect Society
>>Poster: Amy West
>>Subject: Re: "Silver Tsunami" (first "boomer" files for Social Security)
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>Perhaps this is simply obvious bait that I'm falling for, but the
>>sense of "park" in "parkway" is not the verb but the noun "park" as
>>in land set aside for recreation and enjoyment. They were landscaped
>>and designed for visual pleasure in driving.
>>
>>---Amy West
>>
>>>Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 17:01:27 +0000
>>>From: Tom Zurinskas
>>>Subject: Re: "Silver Tsunami" (first "boomer" files for Social Security)
>>>
>>>It's always been in "American" :) English called a "tidal wave".
>>>Shall we start calling hurricanes, typhoons? :). We do live with
>>>names that are a bit incongruous, like "parkway" even though we
>>>don't park on it.
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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