operatic

[Jonathan Lighter]

Yeah, but enthusiasts of melodrama are probably disgruntled too.

Seriously, though, to call something "melodramatic" generally implies
condescension or disdain. A more  neutral term is sometimes needed.

But what?  Hmmmm. Melodramas have a stage, people, and music. So do operas!
So the word is "operatic." It's too new to have negative connotations, and,
as a bonus, it's new enough to provide that hint of breezy authority.

Like "immersive."


JL

On Mon, Mar 18, 2013 at 2:34 AM, Benjamin Torbert <btorbert at gmail.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Benjamin Torbert <btorbert at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: operatic
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> As an opera enthusiast, I find this usage kind of stupid.
>
> BT
>
> On Sun, Mar 17, 2013 at 8:47 AM, 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:      operatic
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > I.e., "melodramatic."  OED's def. doesn't quite do it.  I've been
> familiar
> > with this nuance for probably a decade.
> >
> > 2012
> >
> >
> http://www.salon.com/2012/12/14/pick_of_the_week_kathryn_bigelows_mesmerizi=
> > ng_post_911_nightmare/
> > : Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal's mesmerizing, operatic and profoundly
> > troubling =93Zero Dark Thirty."
> >
> > JL
> >
> > --=20
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
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> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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