"sort of" is elitist?

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Sep 26, 2004, at 6:36 PM, Jesse Sheidlower wrote:

> 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?

they're on crack.  see MWDEU on (adverbial) "kind of, sort of".  people
have been pissing on these expressions for over a hundred years now,
labeling them as just wrong or as "American provincialisms" (wrong on
both counts) or at least as unacceptable in literary contexts; MWDEU
classifies them as colloquial but standard.  as far as i can see,
nobody ever labeled them as elite markers.

MWDEU doesn't, of course, give citations from good ol' boys.  why
bother?

arnold