Wrong [and Holla]

[Mark A. Mandel]

Rima saith:

        >>>
I wonder about the line in "Galaxy Quest," which stuck with many
science fiction fans.  A human is making love to an alien, another
human sees them and says, "That's just wrong."
        <<<

Galaxy Quest is copyright 1999. The expression appears in Lois McMaster
Bujold's sf novel _Cetaganda_, which is copyright 1995. At a display of
genetic art, one character (Ivan) sees a tree bearing flowers, with live
kittens in the blossoms, and exclaims "That's just *wrong*!" I quote
approximately, from memory, but it is definitely a form of this
expression.

The Sage Hen notes:

        >>>
Then there's the Flanders & Swann song, "Eating People is Wrong!"

(Donald sings)
I won't eat people....
I won't eat people....
Eating people is wrong.

A. Murie
        <<<

Different (imho). That's a plain adjective, predicated of a gerund
phrase, not the novel locution Gwyn Alcock describes as:

        >>>
Usually the stress of the sentence will be on wrong, the final word in
the sentence: "This is _wrong_."

It can refer to something ill-formed or incorrectly done, something or a
situation that's rotten (literally or figuratively), offensive, or
unjust. Usage can range from jesting or teasing to quite serious.
        <<<

-- though it may be an example of the kind of use of the adjective that
developed to the idiom.

-- Dr. Whom, Consulting Linguist, Grammarian,
   Orthoepist, & Philological Busybody
   a.k.a. Mark A. Mandel