Wrong and Holla

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In a message dated 3/4/04 1:35:11 PM, bjb5 at U.WASHINGTON.EDU writes:


> I think that accent must be the identifying marker that sets it apart from
> the more normal use Larry Horn cites. It includes a sense of being
> aggrieved.
>

I don't think that "accent" is an issue at all. I didn't check the OED to see
how old this usage is, but ordinary dictionaries (e.g., AH4) have the meaning
'unfair; unjust' (as #3 in AH4) and 'immoral' (as #2 ion AH4). And the usage
is all over the place on the intenet, e.g.,


 When a religious person does a thing that he recognizes as being wrong and
immoral, his illusion of a "Higher Power" and a "Greater Morality" allows them
to perform some ritual, confession, or prayer, and presto, miraculously, "all
their sins are taken away", and they are free again from all pains of
conscience and regret. Such foolish illusions do not comfort the Atheist mind. The
Atheist knows there is no morality above right and wrong, and no escape from the
pains of conscience and remorse.

(Note also the use of 'them' to refer to a singular subject.)

Indeed, as a noun, it seems to me that the primary meaning of WRONG is
'injustice'.

It seems to me that it is context, not intonation and stress, that clarify
"This is WRONG!" refers to a mistake, an injustice, or an immoral action.