George Thompson & humorless ADS people

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

   Greetings from lunch hour.  I didn't win a MacArthur grant this year, so
there's no Online Dictionary of Food & Drink, and it's back to work at the
McDonald's for lawyers.
   I got a copy of the VILLAGE VOICE and here's the whole thing:


VILLAGE VOICE, October 8-14, 2003, pg. 30, col. 3:

PAGE BREAKER:  george thompson is not your average lexicographer of slang.

_best lexicographer_
Though a member of the American Dialect Society and an avid reader of
19th-century newspapers, _GEORGE THOMPSON_ is not your average lexicographer of
slang--he has a sense of humor about it.  Librarian by day, Mr. Thompson calls
himself a "word collector," a phrase he dubs shorthand for "harmless crackpot."
However, he has made some important contributions to the field: the earliest
usage of _baseball_ (1823) and _jazz_ (1912)--which was oddly first used in the
context of baseball.  Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square South,
212-998-2517.


   Some quibbles.
   George Thompson found 1823 "base ball," not "baseball."  It is not a
contribution to our study of "slang."  Also, it is not the "earliest usage" of
"base ball."
   Second, the piece seems to assume that all lexicographers are "slang"
lexicographers, and that everybody in the American Dialect Society studies slang.
Not true.
   What's the meaning of "not your average lexicographer of slang"?
Considering that slang lexicographers number about 20 people at most--what's average?
Average concerning what?  And is George Thompson about the average or below
the average?  Why so?
   He's not average because  HE HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR ABOUT IT.  That's it?
He's the only one who tells jokes?
   Oooh, the next time I see that guy, he's getting my Arnold impression.
I've been doing it all day.  Hear me now and believe me later, I'm going to
terminate the VILLAGE VOICE impression that ADS members are not funny!  Ja!