status quo = 'situation'

Joel S. Berson Berson at ATT.NET
Tue Mar 22 21:03:01 UTC 2011


I may have upheld the status quo previously, but I'm no friend of
this.  The status quo cannot emerge, it already is.

Joel

At 3/22/2011 12:34 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>Try this.
>
>CNN's Nic Robertson reports that people are waiting to see "where the status
>quo emerges" in Libya.
>
>In other words, a (relatively) stable situation.
>
>Not "an existing state of affairs."
>
>JL
>
>On Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 7:22 PM, Jonathan Lighter
><wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: status quo = 'situation'
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > One-off or not, things like this just leap out at me.
> >
> > It could be the start of something big.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 7:17 PM, victor steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com
> > >wrote:
> >
> >  > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       victor steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject:      Re: status quo = 'situation'
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > I'd be the last person to complain about someone seeing idiosyncrasies
> > > where others may not--I post this kind of stuff all the time (and get
> > > berated by Ron Butters). I won't dispute that there is a difference
> > > between the cited use and the classic definition--I just don't believe
> > > that the difference is quite as vast as you suggested. Basically, in
> > > the Reuters example--as in the example you give below (below in this
> > > message--above metaphorically)--"quo" is superfluous. But it's not
> > > particularly destructive and the intended meaning is clearly related
> > > to the dictionary one, even if it's not identical. It may be a drift
> > > or it may be one-off.
> > >
> > > And I would not want to substitute my judgement for yours.
> > > Disagreement is not necessarily criticism--descriptivism demands
> > > stochastic evaluations, not static ones. (I am sure someone will
> > > object to my use of "stochastic" and "static".)
> > >
> > > VS-)
> > >
> > > On Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 5:26 PM, Jonathan Lighter
> > > <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > You may be right, Victor. But surely my sense that there's something
> > very
> > > > odd about the usage isn't entirely idiosyncratic?
> > > >
> > > > Ideally a dictionary definition should be completely substitutable for
> > > the
> > > > word defined.  "The possibility of an entrenched existing situation"?
> >  I
> > > > don't think so. "Status" would  work - but would be just as peculiar.
> > > >
> > > > To me, "What's the status quo?" is almost ungrammatical. "What was the
> > > > status quo?" is fine.
> > > >
> > > > The "status quo" seems usually to be something you either want to get
> > > back
> > > > to or get away from, not something that merely exists. In my Western
> > > Front
> > > > example, "status quo" makes sense not because it means the "existing
> > > > situation," period; it implies that the situation is the same as it was
> > > > *before,* in this case for the past three years.  "An entrenched status
> > > > quo," at least in the context of the quotation, refers to a future
> > > > possibility rather than anything in the past (from the perspective of
> > > now,
> > > > of course).
> > > >
> > > > Whether or not I've identified the specific problem correctly, I still
> > > > believe that the exampled usage is semantically odd, and that the OED
> > > > definition is overly broad. (Cf., perhaps, the subtleties of
> > "anymore.")
> > > >
> > > > JL
> > >
> > >  ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> >
> >  ------------------------------------------------------------
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> >
>
>
>
>--
>"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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



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