[Ads-l] words connected to a single provenance

Barretts Mail mail.barretts at GMAIL.COM
Mon Aug 27 22:20:24 UTC 2018


I don’t recall where I know it from but I remember being perplexed when people started saying it was Bart Simpson’s word. BB

> On 27 Aug 2018, at 15:08, Marc Sacks <msacksg at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> "Cowabunga" may go back to Howdy Doody--I'm old enough to remember the
> show, but not the word--but I'll always associate it with Snoopy.
> 
> On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 12:03 PM, paul johnson <paulzjoh at mtnhome.com> wrote:
> 
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       paul johnson <paulzjoh at MTNHOME.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: words connected to a single provenance
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> -------------------
>> 
>> Hear hear!
>> 
>> 
>> On 8/27/2018 10:59 AM, Philip E. Cleary wrote:
>>> I think that "cowabunga" goes back to Chief Thunderthud of Howdy Doody
>> fame.
>>> 
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> 
>>> From: "Laurence Horn" <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>> Sent: Monday, August 27, 2018 11:54:36 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [ADS-L] words connected to a single provenance
>>> 
>>>> On Aug 27, 2018, at 11:49 AM, Galen Buttitta <
>> satorarepotenetoperarotas3 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Point of order: “Cowabunga” was popularized by Michelangelo of the
>> Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”. Bart Simpson said “¡Ay, caramba!”.
>>> You’re absolutely correct. D’oh!
>>>>> On Aug 27, 2018, at 11:30, Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> It's my impression that the amelioration of noun "notoriety" preceded
>> (and perhaps facilitated) the amelioration of the adjective "notorious."
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> --Charlie
>>>>> 
>>>>> ________________________________
>>>>> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
>> Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>>>> Sent: Monday, August 27, 2018 11:14:38 AM
>>>>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>>>> Subject: Re: words connected to a single provenance
>>>>> 
>>>>> Interesting. I don’t watch much FoxNews, I confess (i.e. any), but I
>> haven’t noticed the noun ameliorating, while I have encountered both the
>> corresponding adjective “infamous” and its cousin “notorious” ameliorating
>> and/or bleaching to mean just something like ‘famous’. But not for all uses
>> of “famous”—I’d be surprised to hear Beethoven described as an infamous
>> musician or Rembrandt a notorious artist. The shift is more something
>> applied to those whose fame derives from the celebrity culture, at least as
>> far as I’ve noticed. Is this shift described in print somewhere?
>>>>> 
>>>>> LH
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Aug 27, 2018, at 7:48 AM, W Brewer <brewerwa at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> RE: <infamy> 'ill repute, ill fame, loss of reputation, disgrace,
>>>>>> discredit, shame, dishonour'. But
>>>>>> the word is consistently given a positive spin by Brian Kilmeade of
>>>>>> FoxNews: <infamy>
>>>>>> 'good repute, positive fame, honour'. Such a positive
>> re-interpretation of
>>>>>> the negative "day that
>>>>>> will live in infamy" flips it the other side of FDR's rough draft
>> neutral
>>>>>> "day that will live in history".
>>>>>> 

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