[Ads-l] HuffPost interview query: "Dumpster fire" (Reply from Barry Popik) (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Laurence Horn]

And, to return to the menu options in that OxfordWords blog, dumpster fires are more likely to be literal than shitstorms or clusterfucks, for better or worse.

LH

> On May 11, 2016, at 5:07 PM, Mullins, Bill CIV (US) <william.d.mullins18.civ at MAIL.MIL> wrote:
> 
> CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED
> 
> 
>> 
>> My thanks to Barry Popik for his response below
>> 
>> Gerald Cohen
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> From: Barry Popik [bapopik at aol.com]
>> Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2016 3:08 PM
>> To: Cohen, Gerald Leonard
>> Subject: Re: Query from Huffington Post: "Dumpster Fire"
>> 
>> 
>> URBAN DICTIONARY:
>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.urbandictionary.com_define.php-3Fterm-3DDumpster-2520Fire&d=AwIGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=cVhA8RCk0DywZFdlnclMX_lrgxg67PI9kRMHTj_6kzY&s=K-B1gPO7Q_HnsMLb3ltRSg2Q3YEpY-3jctrk8sejVJY&e= 
>> ...
>> FIRST PROQUEST CITE
>> Fire Loss 1 -- No Title
>> The Hartford Courant (1923-1990) [Hartford, Conn] 07 Feb 1966: 4.
> 
> This is a literal, not figurative usage.
> 
> Grand Prairie TX _Daily News-Texan_ 12 Oct 1962 p 3 col 3
> "Two fire runs were made Thursday by Grand Prairie firemen, one a grease fire at the Lennon Hotel and the other a dumpster fire at Eddlemon's Food Shop, 209 Clarice."
> 
> 
>> ...
>> LIKE A DUMPSTER FIRE
>> Even amid turmoil, try to give thanks for life Reinhardt, Susan. Asheville Citizen - Times [Asheville, N.C] 08 Dec 2011: B.4.
>> 
>> ... "My life is like a Dumpster fire," he said, and couldn't resist a brief ...
> 
> Columbia SC _State_ 10 Oct 2007 p c4
> "Wow, Nebraska looked like a dumpster fire Saturday."
> 
> 
>> ...
>> IS A DUMPSTER FIRE
>> Blame for offense's collapse falls squarely on Brewster's shoulders Souhan, Jim. Star Tribune [Minneapolis, Minn] 22 Nov 2009: C.1.
>> ...scheme, the Gophers' offense is a dumpster fire. Weber spent much ...
> 
> 
> Columbia SC _State_ 17 Dec 2006 p c4
> " Tank Johnson's life is a Dumpster fire."
> 
>> DUMPSTER FIRE OF A
>> Road to respectability filled with potholes Kravitz, Bob. Indianapolis Star [Indianapolis, Ind] 17 Feb 2010: B.1.
>> ... He took over a Dumpster fire of a program, populated by players who were
> 
> _Birmingham [AL] News_ 23 July 2009 p 2C
> " They don't have Pat White and we don't have that Dumpster fire of an offensive coordinator in Tony Franklin."
> 
> 
> Earliest comparative use I can find is:
> _Grand Rapids [MI] Press_ 2 Apr 2004 p c3
> "This bloody, exploitative mess is the cinematic equivalent of a dumpster fire -- stinky, but insignificant."
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at mst.edu>
>> To: ads-l <ads-l at listserv.uga.edu>
>> Cc: Barry Popik <bapopik at aol.com>; claire.fallon <claire.fallon at huffingtonpost.com>
>> Sent: Wed, May 11, 2016 3:42 pm
>> Subject: Query from Huffington Post: "Dumpster Fire"
>> 
>> 
>> Today I received the request below about "dumpster fire" but don't have an answer.
>> Would someone else perhaps be able to help?
>> 
>> Gerald Cohen
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> From: Claire Fallon [claire.fallon at huffingtonpost.com]
>> Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2016 1:59 PM
>> To: Cohen, Gerald Leonard
>> Subject: HuffPost interview query: "Dumpster fire"
>> 
>> Hi Gerald,
>> 
>> I'm a Books and Culture writer at HuffPost, and I'm working on an article about the phrase "dumpster fire" and its rather sudden ubiquity as
>> an insult. I'm interested in speaking to lexicographers like yourself who might have some insight on its rise to popularity.
>> 
>> Please let me know if you'd be interested in speaking to me for the article; I'd love to hear your thoughts!
>> 
>> Best,
>> Claire
>> 
>> --
>> Claire Fallon
>> Books & Culture Writer | THE HUFFINGTON POST claire.fallon at huffingtonpost.com
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
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> CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED
> 
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