Inner Prescriptivism

[James Landau]

*****    New E-mail Address     JJJRLandau at earthlink.net   *****

I was told that the raison d'etre of the "Tom Swiftie" was that in the
original Tom Swift books (of which I have read exactly two) one habitually
found "blah blah", said Tom [followed by an adverb].  The Swiftie is this
construction with the adverb or adverbial phrase constituting a play on
words of what was said inside the quote marks.

"I will have the pharmacist dispense this medication to you," said Jonathan
prescriptively.

          - James A. Landau



> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Inner Prescriptivism
>
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>
> Just so there's no confusion here:"Tom Swiftiea" were joke pattern of
brief but phenomenal popularity which took the form
>
>    "Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah...," said Tom, [adverb or
adverbial phrase containing hideous pun]."
>
>   I may have once known why the name of Tom Swift, the boys' adventure
hero of the early 20th C., should have returned to the Marketplace of Ideas
in the mid-60's, but, if so, I can no longer remember.
>
>   As I heard it, the Swiftie in question began, "' I'm not queer,"
ejaculated Tom....' "
>
>   See, he was only half.... Aaah, forget it.
>
>   As far as I can tell, it had nothing whatever to do with Ernest
Hemingway.
>
>   JL
>
> sagehen <sagehen at WESTELCOM.COM> wrote:
>   ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: sagehen
> Subject: Re: Inner Prescriptivism
>
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>
> >For the historical record, I heard that one in NYC in 1964-65. At that
> >time, though, Ernest was not dead.
> >
> > JL
> ~~~~~~~~~
> Er, if you're talking Hemingway........
> I remember reading about EH's death while sitting eating breakfast in a
> cafe in Casper, WY in (probably late June) 1961. At the time it was given
> out that it had been an accident "while cleaning his gun."
> AM
>
>
>
>
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