Fwd: retro "psych"

[Jonathan Lighter]

No tykes (or *tykies) that I know are so at ease with the Classics as to pronounce
/ saik / hypercorrectly as / 'saiki /.  I have even seen it spelled "Sike!" by freshmen, to whom the observation similarly applies.

JL

Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Laurence Horn
Subject: Re: Fwd: retro "psych"
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At 7:33 AM -0700 4/25/05, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>"Psych(e) !" was common among schoolkids in the '80s, according to
>contemporary reports.
>
>JL

I take it these are/were always [saik] and not ['saiki], despite the
(alternate) spelling? The latter, in this context, would really be a
surprise. I've only ever heard it as [saik], whence the e-less
spelling, just like the popular major.

L

>"Arnold M. Zwicky" wrote:
>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender: American Dialect Society
>Poster: "Arnold M. Zwicky"
>Subject: Fwd: retro "psych"
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>first, an exchange between me and larry horn:
>
>Begin forwarded message:
>
>> From: Laurence Horn
>> Date: April 8, 2005 7:51:15 AM PDT
>> To: "Arnold M. Zwicky"
>> Subject: Re: retro "psych"
>>
>> At 6:10 AM -0700 4/8/05, Arnold M. Zwicky wrote:
>>> my Stanford student Tommy Grano reports a use of retro "psych", used
>>> like retro "not" (by conveying 'I just psyched you out'). this was
>>> when he was in grade school in Santa Barbara, ca. 1992, and the kids
>>> didn't continue the usage through later years.
>>>
>>> have you heard of this, or was it (as is entirely possible) just a
>>> short-lived local fad in a very small language community? if it had
>>> more general use, it might be worth mentioning on ADS-L.
>>>
>> It's real. I remember it, but mostly from TV shows, as I recall, not
>> real life. Maybe it really was specifically Californian, including
>> Hollywood productions.
>
>Grano now reports:
>>>From last week's issue of the Onion:
>-------
>A guy would have to be crazy to try something like that, is that what
>you're thinking? Brother, I'm your worst nightmare. Sure, I have a job
>that pays well right now. You know thatóyou verified my employment
>history. But who's to say I'm going to have that job next year, next
>month, or next week? Hey, I might not even have it tomorrow. In fact,
>I'm feeling like I might just call my boss and tell him off right now.
>Can I borrow your phone? No problem. I have my cell.
>
>Psyche! See, you've gotta be on your toes around me. How can I take you
>seriously if you frighten that easily?
>-------
>with a link to the quoted article (which will only work for another
>couple of weeks or so):
>http://www.theonion.com/opinion/index.php?issue=4115
>
>has this made it into anybody else's files?
>
>arnold
>
>
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