"that," adv. = very; quite

[Mullins, Bill]

How about "He's all that [with an implied adjective], and a bag of
chips."

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society
> [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Monday, April 04, 2005 10:15 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: "that," adv. = very; quite
>
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      "that," adv. = very; quite
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> -----------------
>
> OED lists this as "now dial. & Scot." except after a negative
> : e.g., "not (all) that crazy."  Here's a contemporary U.S.
> ex. from the Style Channel show, "Clean House," first
> broadcast (or should that be "cablecast"?) in 2004 :
>
>        "How old a woman are you ?"
>        "I'm that young."
>
> The speaker was an African-American actress in L.A., speaking
> standard American English, about 40-45 years "young." Have
> never noticed this usage in U.S. before.
>
> JL
>
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