crazy X-adj

Victor Steinbok aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM
Mon Sep 30 00:13:46 UTC 2013


I'm sure everyone with a TV has seen by now at least one of a cluster of
Vonage commercials (JWT--aired over 4500 times) that include the
exchange, "Now you're just talking crazy!"--"Crazy generous!"

http://goo.gl/aTnYe8

Although the Vonage spots have been playing for close to a year, there
has been another one with similarly used "crazy" at least since June.
This one is from Chevrolet (McCann Erickson--aired just over 500 times)
and, when I first heard it, I thought they were mocking the Vonage campaign.

http://goo.gl/Bg5LxP
W1: Chevy Cruise offers ... MPG highway. That's crazy.
W2: Crazy efficient!(?)
W1: Ten standard airbags...
W2: And you get Stabilitrac with traction control.
W1: That is like crazy protection...
W2: Hmmm...
W1: This interior is...
W2: ... insane
W1: It is insane. I was going to say "crazy" again.

The intonation on "Crazy generous" and "Crazy efficient" between the two
ads is very similar.

Not that this kind of use of "crazy" is anything new ("crazy good" has
long been attested here IIRC), but the parallel between the two
commercials suggests a different level of usage.

     VS-)

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



More information about the Ads-l mailing list