Fw: agita / 'heartburn'

[Regina]

 Reading your comment on "heartburn,"  I made a comment to my proofreader
 about "agita."   I remember hearing the word in the '60s, as did she. But
MW
 gives date of 1980s.  Yes, we are both in NYC.  Manhattan.  Chelsea.

 ________________________________________________________________________
> r.
>
> yeah, agree.
> i thought that when i read it.
> and same for me, i learned it from italians.
>
> t.
>
>
> ________________________ . . . .
> Regina said:
>
>
> I must disagree with the dating of it.
>
> I remember hearing the word since I was a kid.
>
> Italians I knew used it.
>
> ________________________________________________________
>
> From MW:
>
>       agita \AJ-uh-tuh\ noun
>
>       : a feeling of agitation or anxiety
>
>       Example sentence:
>       The prosecuting attorney's aggressive cross-examination seemed to
give
> the defendant agita.
>
>       Did you know?
>       Judging by its spelling and meaning, you might think that "agita" is
> simply a shortened version of "agitation," but that's not the case. Both
> "agitation" and the verb "agitate" derive from the Latin "agere" ("to
> drive"). "Agita," which first appeared in English in the early 1980s,
comes
> from a dialectical pronunciation of the Italian "acido," meaning
"heartburn"
> or "acid," which derives from the Latin "acidus." For a while its usage in
> American English was limited to New York City and surrounding regions, but
> the word became more widespread in the mid-90s.
>       ______________________________________
>
>
> this was merriam-webster's word of the day
> just the other day. wow. cool.
>
> t.
> ________________________ . . . .
>
> Regina said:
>
> of course, they could have just said "agita."
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Geoffrey Nunberg" <nunberg at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2003 1:25 PM
> Subject: 'heartburn'
>
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Geoffrey Nunberg <nunberg at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>
> > Subject:      'heartburn'
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > A recent article in the NY Times had a use of "heartburn" that
> > brought me up short:
> >
> > Major Stephan, who is looking for work after taking a furlough from a
> > commercial airliner, said he did not understand why some troops in
> > Iraq were complaining. "I have real heartburn about the people you
> > see on television griping about how they're stuck over there". . .
> > (NY Times, 9/3/03)
> >
> > I had always thought that 'hearburn' in its extended sense referred
> > to a carking anxiety, as in:
> >
> > "You're compressing a two-year campaign cycle into two months, with
> > all of the heartburn and anxiety that entails," said Mark Bogetich.
> > (LA Times, 8/30/03).
> >
> > But the use to mean "outrage or anger" is well attested,  as e.g. in:
> >
> > Cable's forced diet of programming is giving viewers heartburn. The
> > average bill now tops $ 40 a month, up 50% since 1996... (USA TODAY,
> > 8/26/03)
> >
> > For years, the Hormel Foods Corp. has watched as the name of its
> > famous and popular product also has come to mean junk e-mail, a
> > source of heartburn and anger for computer users everywhere. (Wash
> > Post 7/1/03)
> >
> > And actually the OED gives  "Rankling jealousy, discontent, or enmity."
> >
> > I wonder how other people understand this word.
> >
> > Geoff Nunberg
>