"Freedom of stench"

[Laurence Horn]

Hah!  Beat you by 10 seconds--that's what not being a professor gets you!

L

At 2:29 PM -0400 9/3/09, Wilson Gray wrote:
>Pejoration.
>
>-Wilson, who's not a professor, but merely an interested observer
>
>On Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 2:14 PM, Bill Palmer<w_a_palmer at bellsouth.net> wrote:
>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       Bill Palmer <w_a_palmer at BELLSOUTH.NET>
>>  Subject:      Re: "Freedom of stench"
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  Interesting side note...from my recall of Anglo-Saxon,of about 45 years ago,
>>  "stench" (written then, I think as "stenc") meant any kind of smell or odor,
>>  not just an unpleasant one.
>>
>>  One of the professors out there, tell me what is the name for that process
>>  ...when the meaning of a word undergoes a degradation in meaning.
>>
>>
>>  Bill Palmer
>>  -----
>>  From: "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>>  To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2009 7:23 AM
>>  Subject: "Freedom of stench"
>>
>>
>>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail
>>>  header -----------------------
>>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>  Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>>>  Subject:      "Freedom of stench"
>>>
>>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>  A reporter on ABC TV's "Good Morning America" today, noting that the
>>>  city council had delayed action on the bill described below after
>>>  constitutional questions had been raised, asked whether there was a
>>>  "freedom of stench".
>>>
>>>  "Honolulu City Council is considering a bill that would impose up to
>>>  $500 fine and/or up to 6 months in jail for transit passengers
>>>  convicted of being too smelly."
>>>  [KGMB.com, September 1.]
>>>
>>>http://kgmb9.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20721&Itemid=76
>>>
>>>  Merely 4 Google hits on "freedom of stench" this morning, despite the
>>>  fact that this news is an immense two days old, none related to the
>>>  Honolulu bill.
>>>
>>>  Joel
>>>
>>>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>
>--
>-Wilson
>---
>All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
>to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>-----
>-Mark Twain
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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