[Ads-l] shocked = 'pleasantly surprised'

[Jonathan Lighter]

A lady in a commercial has just had her DNA tested so as to discover
her true essence.

"The most shocking result was I'm 26% Native American!"

Time was that would have been an obviously racist remark.

JL

On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 7:22 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:      Re: shocked = 'pleasantly surprised'
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>> Although youneverknow.
>
> In this case I do know. Intonation - affect - and three of four co-yakkers
> agreed that Seth sounded great.
>
> JL
>
> On Mon, Feb 25, 2013 at 8:29 PM, 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: shocked = 'pleasantly surprised'
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> On Feb 25, 2013, at 7:15 PM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>>
>> > At 2/25/2013 04:43 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>> >> We've mentioned this before, but here's another good one. A yakking
>> head on
>> >> CNN says he was "shocked" to hear Seth McFarlane's singing voice at the
>> >> Acade--- I mean at the Oscars.
>> >
>> > So was Claude Rains.  Pleasantly surprised, surprised, I mean.  He
>> > was expecting his winnings shortly.
>> >
>> > Joel
>> >
>> Ah, but the good Captain Louie was *pretending* to be unpleasantly
>> surprised, surprised, or even scandalized, scandalized at the evidence of
>> gambling.  The CNN guy presumably was not being ironic at the evidence of
>> holding a tune.  Although youneverknow.
>>
>> LH
>>
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>>
>
>
>
> --
> "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



-- 
"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