blowzy

Ben Zimmer bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU
Mon Jan 21 00:11:44 UTC 2013


On Sun, Jan 20, 2013 at 5:03 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>
> On Jan 20, 2013, at 4:58 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>
>> On Sun, Jan 20, 2013 at 9:13 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>
>>> A bald-pated academic with rimless glasses and a measured, Ivy League
>>> manner tells Candy Crowley that he hopes Obama's Inaugural speech "won't be
>>> _blowzy_, out there, and timeless."
>>
>> Someone has actually *spoken* this word?! What did it sound like? That
>> is, how is it pronounced? What rhymes with it?  Seriously!
>>
> I'd guess "lousy".  Certainly not "mousy", or "Suzy".

According to the transcript, it was "blousy":

---
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1301/20/sotu.01.html
[Don Baer, former chief speechwriter for Pres. Clinton:] And honestly,
I will be looking to see whether he is able to call for common purpose
but to do it in a way that isn't too blousy and out there and timeless
but is, in fact, timely, speaks to this moment and speaks to the
people today in this country and also the leaders here in Washington
who have to move us forward.
---

--bgz

--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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



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