[Ads-l] "Boston Strong"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Sign displayed at Congressional baseball game:

"SCALISE STRONG!"

JL

On Sat, May 18, 2013 at 11:50 AM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at babel.ling.upenn.edu>
wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "Boston Strong"
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------------
>
> Meant to mention: in NJ, an alternative to "Jersey Strong" post-Sandy
> has been "Jersey Tough." See, e.g.:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaHQNSGlfTs
> "We're resilient, we're Jersey-tough, we are Stronger Than the Storm. "
>
> That harks back to the "Built Ford Tough" slogan for Ford Trucks,
> which has been around since at least 1976:
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=3uEDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26
>
> --bgz
>
>
> On Sat, May 18, 2013 at 10:34 AM, Ben Zimmer
> <bgzimmer at babel.ling.upenn.edu> wrote:
> >
> > I wrote a column for the Boston Globe, and a Word Routes followup, on
> > "Boston Strong" and its predecessors:
> >
> > http://b.globe.com/strongbz
> > http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/an-army-of-strong-slogans/
> >
> > Thanks to Hugo and the other participants in this thread for their
> > contributions.
> >
> > On Fri, May 3, 2013 at 6:56 AM, Hugo <hugovk at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >> Livestrong Foundation (formerly Lance Armstrong Foundation) is the
> "cancer-
> >> related" "charity" set up by since-digraced cyclist Lance Armstrong,
> and they
> >> sold yellow wristbands with their logo to raise money. The logo is all
> caps,
> >> with the "STRONG" in bold.
> >>
> >> Wikipedia says the foundation was established in 1997, the Livestrong
> brand
> >> was launched in 2003, and the wristbands were launched in 2004.
> >>
> >> Checking the Wayback Machine capture of livestrong.org shows they
> wrote their
> >> name "Live Strong" in at least 2003 and 2004, and used an all-caps logo
> with
> >> bolded "strong" from at least 2004.
> >>
> >> USA Today reports two students created blue tshirts with yellow "BOSTON
> >> STRONG" text:
> >> ===
> >> We wanted to create a venue for the average college student to help
> make a
> >> difference," [Nick] Reynolds said. "We developed Boston Strong off of
> >> Livestrong and Army Strong, because it was something simple people
> could get
> >> behind. It's been absolutely insane how it's taken off."
> >> ===
> >> http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/30/boston-
> strong-emerson-tshirt-fundraiser/2124053/
> >>
> >> A CBS article entitled "Bernstein: Stop Using ‘_____ -Strong’" says:
> >> ===
> >> “CHUCKSTRONG” and “Boston Strong” are obvious re-workings of
> Livestrong, the
> >> shamed, corrupt charity that put a yellow bracelet on millions of
> gullible
> >> sheep. That name was born as part of a larger campaign to enrich Lance
> >> Armstrong and shield him from criticism, using the catchy second
> syllable of
> >> his last name.
> >>
> >> It was originally called The Lance Armstrong Foundation, and then it
> adopted
> >> the snappier new handle.
> >>
> >> The USADA took him down on August 24, 2012, but that wasn’t enough to
> stop
> >> the Colts from titling their [CHUCKSTRONG] cause referentially just
> weeks
> >> later. It was unfortunate then and looks even worse, now, the choice to
> tie
> >> any charity in any way to someone so entirely reprehensible. Nothing
> but kind
> >> thought behind it and laudable action as a result, but it still makes
> any
> >> critical thinker uncomfortably, needlessly mindful of someone who gamed
> the
> >> same system for his own benefit.
> >> …
> >> Here’s calling for a little less laziness, a little more creativity,
> and an
> >> increased desire by all of us to remove any last vestiges of his
> presence
> >> from organized attempts to aid those in need.
> >> ===
> >> http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/04/24/bernstein-stop-
> using-_____-strong/
>
> --
> Ben Zimmer
> http://benzimmer.com/
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



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