beast

[Jonathan Lighter]

Both Urban Dictionary and Online Slang Dictionary recognize "beast" in
various senses amounting to "one who is exceptionally skillful or capable"
going back to the '90s.

The adj seems to go back about a decade.

HDAS provides the well-known nominal sense "a large, powerful vehicle."

Off on a tangent is the sense "girlfriend."

BTW, the tone of the remark on CNN suggested that "a great leader" was an
elaboration, not a definition, of "beast," and that "beast" was meant in a
generally admiring way.

Unlike sports announcers, she didn't say, "He's a BEAST on the field!" Just
that he's a "beast" on the field.

JL


On Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 3:26 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: beast
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Isn't this meant to be just an extension of "he's an absolute beast in
> battle"? Fearless, ferocious, hungry for victory... you can throw in
> "animal instinct" there as well. But "leader"? I guess, if you compare
> your team to a wolfpack...
>
>      VS-)
>
> On 2/10/2014 11:39 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > CNN describes a football player as "a beast on the field, a great
> leader."
> >
> > Used to be, a "beast" was a kinda bad thing. But hey, football.
> >
> > 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."

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