"sort of" is elitist?

[Gordon, Matthew J.]

I'm probably giving them too much credit but it's possible someone is familar with the literature on hedges and similar conversational indicators of "weak" language - the kinds of things that R. Lakoff originally identified with women's language. There are, I believe, studies showing that these features are class-marked.

Someone on the list is no doubt familiar with this literature and could flesh out these points.


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Jesse Sheidlower
Sent: Sun 9/26/2004 8:36 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject:      "sort of" is elitist?
 
This odd item appeared in today's _New York Post,_ that bastion
of linguistic discernment:

----
John Kerry had better watch his tongue -- it's starting to
betray his elitist leanings. The other day, he said, "This
president sort of wandered back." 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."
---

I don't have handy access to any usage book right now, so
perhaps a better language maven than I can tell me: what
the hell are they talking about? Is _sort of_ really regarded
as a status marker? Is there anything to this story at all,
or are they just on crack?

Jesse Sheidlower

P.S. Original story at
http://www.nypost.com/gossip/19673.htm