cultural origins of slang terms

[Bob Haas]

Oops, I didn't mean to send the last post yet.  You're absolutely right,
Ron.  I guess I just WANTED it to be STREETCAR.  Whaddyagonnado.  As I creep
into middle age and become my father, I sometimes have to remind myself to
step outside of my own perspective.  Consider this my palinode.

> From: RonButters at AOL.COM
> Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 23:34:39 EDT
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: cultural origins of slang terms
>
> In a message dated 5/12/2000 5:08:05 PM, highbob at MINDSPRING.COM writes:
>
> << Good point, Ron, but just for the sake of argument (things are slow
> following the semester, and I'm putting off writing) couldn't such a term
> finding a language community some 40--going on 50--years after the film
> reflect not the sentiments of the film, but the callousness of the folks who
> actually use such a term?  You know, the kind of TV viewers who actually
> enjoy COPS. >>
>
> In that case, it seems to me that it would be a lot more likely that the
> slang of those callous folks would be inspired by more recent cultural icons
> than a movie made generations ago which, however classic, no longer reaches a
> mass audience.