belated WOTY

[Dennis R. Preston]

It's still more like a first (well maybe second) kiss to me. This
adjective-to-noun form (sure an honored trip in English) has a very
specific (and hard to paraphrase quickly) meaning. Would you say he is
"calling an audible" (which I think we used to say) which, semantically, is
a little silly (if you like purely compositional semantics at any rate).

dInIs

>        >Scary! No, it's like being in the delivery room, or watching the
>moon rise, or being
>        >kissed for the first time. The birth and propagation of a neologism
>is to be
>        >enjoyed.
>        >[Okay, right. A little too much exaggeration.]
>
>        Grant: I know you're right, but it is hard to feel enjoyment when
>you hear, for example, John Madden take the already bastardized (from
>adjective to noun) "audible" and twist it into a verb -- "He is audiblizing
>at the line of scrimmage." That feels more like a kick in the ass than a
>first kiss.
>
>        Jerry Miller


Dennis R. Preston
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736