[Ads-l] third place

Barretts Mail mail.barretts at GMAIL.COM
Sun Feb 10 17:11:06 UTC 2019


Nice analysis. I recall a kid in elementary school who used “third leg” for penis, and sure enough, the UD has it (https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Third%20Leg <https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Third%20Leg>).

The English OLD has third estate and fourth estate, but not the first and second estates, so it seems there was a decision that the third and fourth estates have adequate currency and lexicalization to warrant entry:

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/third_estate <https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/third_estate>
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/fourth_estate <https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/fourth_estate>

Although I have known about Third Place Books for over a decade, I never knew the meaning until I saw that article on Schultz, and was surprised to see how many establishments have “third place” in their name. It seems that “third place” warrants entry.

Benjamin Barrett
Formerly of Seattle, WA

> On 9 Feb 2019, at 09:10, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU> wrote:
> 
> Part of a general pattern wherein a binary opposition with an excluded middle is presupposed or in practice, and then a third unexcluded middle is established as distinct from and somehow between each of the others or neutral with respect to their opposition. This third factor is often negatively or disjunctively defined rather than constituting a well-defined category.
> 
> Examples:  
> 
> Neither fish nor fowl nor good red herring
> Third world (still used, even now that the definition of the second world has become somewhat inchoate)
> Third way (in political usage, drawing on liberal social views and conservative economic ones:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Way)
> (Chomsky’s) third factor (in language acquisition), the first two being genetic endowment and experience.  
> (http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.174.4334&rep=rep1&type=pdf)
> 
> I’m sure I’m forgetting some, and of course not all third things, even when the third is the last on the continuum—e.g. “third degree” (in interrogation or burns), “the third Reich"—fit the pattern.
> 
> LH
> 
>> On Feb 9, 2019, at 11:44 AM, Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>> 
>> Not in the English OLD, Wiktionary or Merriam-Webster.
>> 
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_place <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_place>: "In community building, the third place is the social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home ("first place") and the workplace ("second place"). Examples of third places would be environments such as churches, cafes, clubs, public libraries, or parks.”
>> 
>> https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/02/08/howard-schultz-president-starbucks-profile-2020-224823 <https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/02/08/howard-schultz-president-starbucks-profile-2020-224823>
>> How Howard Schultz Left a Bitter Taste in Seattle’s Mouth
>> Eric Scigliano
>> 8 Feb 2019
>> Quoting Howard Schultz in reference to Starbucks cafes:
>> 
>> —— 
>> a “gathering spot, a Third Place that draws people together.”
>> —— 
>> 
>> Although “third place” is probably capitalized because it’s jargon, it could also be because of a bookstore and cafe that used to be in Seattle and is now nearby called Third Place Books (https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/lake-forest-park <https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/lake-forest-park>).
>> 
>> Benjamin Barrett
>> Formerly of Seattle, WA
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list