[Ads-l] P.S. on "Fargone" vs. "Fargoed"

Yagoda, Ben byagoda at UDEL.EDU
Mon Jan 16 14:17:40 UTC 2017


And speaking of which, what are other examples, if any, of movie titles that have become fairly widespread verbs? A 2014 Mental Floss article, “11 Movie Titles That Became Part of the Lexicon” has only two--“Gaslight” and the 2010 “Catfish,” which an Urban Dictionary poster defines as: "To give the impression of being an attractive person in order to attract someone online while being a complete or near opposite of that portrayed.”

Off the top of my head, “All About Eve” and  “The Manchurian Candidate” (which has been referred to a fair amount lately) might have had shots if they were one word instead of three.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/57860/11-movie-titles-became-part-lexicon

Ben

On Jan 15, 2017, at 2:44 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU<mailto:laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>> wrote:

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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>>
Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU<mailto:laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>>
Subject:      P.S. on "Fargone" vs. "Fargoed"
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I know it wasn=E2=80=99t the last scene in the movie (after all, there =
was that nice bedtime cuddle between Frances McDormand and hubby) but =
might the demise of the Buscemi character count as a Fargone conclusion?



On Jan 15, 2017, at 2:40 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu<mailto:laurence.horn at yale.edu>> =
wrote:
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On Jan 15, 2017, at 10:47 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM<mailto:thegonch at GMAIL.COM>> =
wrote:
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Wouldn't the word "gaslit" be familiar in the sense of "lit by gas", =
and
wouldn't the Academy Award nominated movie and it's context be =
familiar to
just about everyone?
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I don't think the connection is hard to make.
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I don=E2=80=99t know; given that it=E2=80=99s from the title of the =
film, which in turn derives from the use of gas lights in the film (and =
I assume the earlier play), it=E2=80=99s a bit indirect=E2=80=94not to =
the extent of =E2=80=9Cgrandstood=E2=80=9D as the past tense of =
=E2=80=9Cgrandstand=E2=80=9D, but somewhere along that continuum.  Or =
maybe referring to someone disposed of in a wood-chipper as having been =
=E2=80=9CFargone=E2=80=9D rather than =E2=80=9CFargoed=E2=80=9D.  (Sorry =
for the spoiler alert.)
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LH=20
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On Jan 13, 2017 11:49 AM, "ADSGarson O'Toole" =
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com<mailto:adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>>
wrote:
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Ben Zimmer wrote:
It's remarkable that "gaslighting" was considered common enough
knowledge by then that it didn't require an explanation tying it =
back
to the movie, and it's equally remarkable that the verb had already
taken on the irregular morphology of "gaslit" for the past tense /
past participle.
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Great citation, Ben.
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Maybe the term was familiar to movie and television screenplay =
writers
because it facilitated convenient shorthand descriptions when
discussing plot mechanics. The writers may have misjudged the
popularity/frequency of "to gaslight" in the general populace. =
Perhaps
"to gaslight" was largely unknown to people similar to the =
characters
in "Gomer Pyle, USMC" before it appeared on television.
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Garson
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On Thu, Jan 12, 2017 at 8:15 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com<mailto:hwgray at gmail.com>> =
wrote:
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I prefer _gaslighted_, but...
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Youneverknow.
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I grew up in the home of the Laclede Gas-Light Company, so...
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