More "left coast" thoughts

[Gregory {Greg} Downing]

At 03:16 PM 8/24/2000 -0400, you wrote:
>The possibilities as I see it are that (as I first suggested)
>the original quotation represents an awkwardly written attestation
>of the 'West Coast' sense; or that the quotation really does
>attest _Left Coast_ 'East Coast'. Presumably the matter could
>be cleared up with a phone call from Mr. Safire to the writer
>of the article in question.
>
>Jesse Sheidlower
>OED
>

What I left implicit in my other posting on this thread, and may as well "go
ahead and" make explicit here, is that there seem to be two possibilities in
the cited passage:

(1) The description of the over-the-top attire is being used to suggest that
the DC person is (deliberately?) dressed in over-the-top Hollywood fashion.
The convention was held in LA, after all, and one of the commonplaces of
political disourse for the last few years has been the affinities that seem
to exist between Hollywoodites and members of the Clinton administration.
Perhaps the writer is implying that DC Dems (presumably members of the
administration and/or DC political operatives) deliberately adopted Left
Coast fashion modes at some LA festivities.

(2) Less likely, but I suppose it's *possible* that the LA Times columnist
doesn't understand the usage of a locution hatched in right-of-center
discourse. How much currency does the term "Left Coast" have on the, er,
left coast?

(3) Or, he's a journalist who doesn't always write -- it's been known to
happen.... Deadlines and all that....


Greg Downing, at greg.downing at nyu.edu or gd2 at is2.nyu.edu