mental masturbation

[Baker, John]

        Specifically, "midcult" is under "mid" and means middle-brow culture, a term that Macdonald used pejoratively.

John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: Fred Shapiro [mailto:fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU]
Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2002 5:38 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: mental masturbation


On Thu, 19 Sep 2002, Jesse Sheidlower wrote:

> > arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu), made uncomfortable by the
> >   muse-mounting image, and wondering about that "midcult" thing
> >   (*that* word isn't in OED2)
>
> No, but it is in OED3, citing Dwight Macdonald's essay,
> among others.

"Midcult" is in OED2 as well.

Fred Shapiro


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