belated WOTY

[Miller, Jerry]

Dennis: No, I'd say, "He's changing the play at the line of scrimmage," or,
"He's calling a new play at the line of scrimmage" - there's really no need
to note that it is "audible" (and, as we saw this past weekend, in Minnesota
and Seattle, it isn't always).

Jerry Miller


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dennis R. Preston [SMTP:preston at PILOT.MSU.EDU]
> Sent: Monday, January 10, 2000 3:40 PM
> To:   ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject:      Re: belated WOTY
>
> 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