Red-State "sorta"'s

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Oct 9, 2004, at 10:30 PM, Geoffrey Nunberg wrote:

> ...Arnold's right, of course, that it would take a systematic survey to
> demonstrate whether or not "sort of" is in fact a class-sensitive
> variable. But the Post item made a categorical statement about the
> class associations of "sort of":
>
> "Language mavens say the use of "sort of" as an adverb is a subtle
> indicator of upper-class origins or aspirations. You won't catch any
> good ol' boys in those vital swing states saying "sort of."
>
> That's just plain wrong -- in fact "sort of"/"sorta" is quite common
> in country lyrics...

back when this all started, i noted MWDEU's claim that "sort of" and
"kind of" were both widely found in informal english.  i concluded that
the Post had its head up its ass (or that, in jesse sheidlower's words,
they were smoking crack).  then i got interested in linguist-like
questions.  but of course it's important to *show* that the Post's
claim is crap.  thanks, geoff.

arnold