[Ads-l] healthier, n.

[Dan Goncharoff]

I have seen "the road to X" use adjectives.

DanG

On Sat, May 9, 2015 at 9:12 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: healthier, n.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> > On May 9, 2015, at 7:19 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> =
> wrote:
> >=20
> > =
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttps-3A__www.youtube.com_wat=
> ch-3Fv-3DWSKU2CwTMSg&d=3DAwIBaQ&c=3D-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=3DwFp3X4Mu39h=
> B2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3DcGC7senOcmaOZjJrZtCpg0_71qb_5gdxkDtS7=
> -AjITg&s=3DEvQ7JkLp6nbiqlSK9sipYlzRYPD-wn34tQFGlS4RCv4&e=3D=20
> >=20
> > "The pursuit of healthier. It begins from the second we're born."
> >=20
> > This is the first ex. I've noticed of a nominalized adjective in the
> > comparative degree.
>
> Well, nominalized adjectives in subject position aren't that hard to =
> find--lots of examples of, for example, "Richer is X", where X =3D =
> better, safer, greener, not to mention "Bigger is better", "Taller is =
> better", "Older is better", "Smaller is better", etc.  These could be =
> seen as a snowclone (based on "Bigger is better" as a meme?).  But the =
> predicate isn't always itself a comparative:
>
> Comcast defends Time Warner Cable merger to Congress: 'Bigger is good'.
> =
> http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/comcast-defends-time-warner-cable-merg=
> er-congress-bigger-good/
>
> And many g-hits for "Slutty is good", "Sneaky is good", etc.  These all =
> might be argued to involve adjectival subjects, with no nominalization =
> stage.  Then there's "the more the merrier" type, which may or may not =
> involve a nominalized adjective.  But I agree that nominalized =
> adjectives as the object of a preposition seems innovative (or weird, =
> depending on the beholder). =20
>
> How about direct objects? A somewhat marginal case from a novel:  "For =
> richer or poorer--but I prefer richer".  Kind of metalinguistic, though. =
>  I suspect I've also encountered "I like X" for adjectival X (rich, =
> slutty, sneaky,...).  How about "There's nothing wrong with X", where X =
> is an adjective that's the object of a preposition? =20
>
> "There's nothing wrong with bigger and better."
> =
> http://www.mikelopez.com/why-some-people-are-scared-to-make-lots-of-money.=
> html
>
> "There's nothing wrong with smaller at all"
> =
> http://www.brookfieldnow.com/sports/goodman-named-new-girls-basketball-coa=
> ch-at-east-fp697vm-164263526.html
>
>
> LH
>
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