FW: journalist's inquiry on the slang of Variety magazine

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

Dear ads-l members,
    Yesterday I received the query below, and perhaps some ads-l members can assist Ms. Wren on the topic she asks about. Please respond directly to her (perhaps with a cc. to ads-l); her email address is celiawren at hotmail.com

    I'm not knowledgeable about the slang of Variety, although my records show at least 8 Comments on Etymology items pertaining to theater slang.  I don't know what Ms. Wren's deadline is, but I'm sure any assistance would be very welcome.

Best. -- Gerald Cohen
> ----------
> From:         Celia Wren
> Sent:         Friday, December 17, 2004 9:04 AM
> To:   Cohen, Gerald Leonard
> Subject:      journalist inquiry
>
> Dear Professor Cohen:
>
> I am writing an article about the idiosyncratic slang that has been coined and used by the show-biz magazine Variety. I wondered if you knew of a
> lexicographer/language expert I might interview for 15 minutes or so to get some insight into the Variety-slanguage phenomenon? Perhaps you might even
> speak on the subject yourself? I got your name from the American Dialect
> Society website.
>
> Variety's slang includes terms like > "> to pinkslip> ">  (meaning to fire someone), > "> to ankle> ">  (meaning to leave a job), > "> to greenlight> ">  (meaning to give the
> go-ahead for a project), > "> biopic> ">  (a biographical film) and > "> boffo> ">   (outstanding). Some of the slanguage terms have apparently infiltrated the lexicon of the broader public:  > "> Corny> ">  and > "> sex appeal> ">  are both terms that
> Variety claims to have coined (according to the slanguage index on their
> website).
>
> My questions are:
>
> How much Variety slang has infiltrated the lexicon of the broader
> population?
> Did they really coin > "> corny> ">  and > "> sex appeal> "> ? How about > "> cliffhanger> "> ?
> Are there any other magazines that have invented their own language in this
> way?
>
> My article is for the Boston Globe > "> Ideas> ">  section. If you have any
> suggestions on language experts I might interview, I> '> d be very grateful.
>
> Celia Wren
> 804-648-4814
>
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