slash

[Laurence Horn]

At 11:10 AM -0400 8/27/10, Laurence Horn wrote:
>>
>I'm surprised neither Geoff (well, maybe not that surprised) nor
>(especially) the commenters mentioned the role of football

--by which I meant of course American football, NFL style, whence my
non-surprise at Geoff Pullum's non-mention of Kordell "Slash" Stewart.

LH

>  in the
>evolution of "Slash" as a sobriquet, in particular the original
>Slash, Kordell Stewart, who was a quarterback in college at the U. of
>Colorado but was converted to a multipurpose receiver/back-up
>quarterback/running back/kick returner for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
>Here's a brief bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kordell_Stewart.
>Longtime Steelers color announcer Myron Cope, who had an inimitable
>on-air style, dubbed him Slash and it stuck, now being occasionally
>applied (as a noun!) to other all-purpose players.
>
>LH
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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