annual list of words to be proscribed

[Joel S. Berson]

At 12/31/2012 04:21 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>And why the hell not?  We've got too many words already:
>
>http://news.yahoo.com/list-no-love-fiscal-cliff-spoiler-alert-092339244.html
>
>I would add all pronouns to the list. Make people use the brains God gave
>'em.

I thought it must have been taking a long time to proscribe "mountain
of despair", since it sounds like it should be in "The Pilgrim's
Progress".  But is seems to be absent there.  And Hawthorne's "The
Celestial Railroad" merely has "(the castle of the redoubted) giant
Despair".  (I can't speak for any other parodies.)

The phrase seems to be instead from King's "I Have a Dream", although
-- presumably due to its hard-won copyright status -- I can't find
the text itself.

Proscription would be sinful.

Joel



>JL
>
>--
>"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