"infamous" = famous; "assassinate" = murder; "feasible" = plausible; "ancestor" = descendant.

[Jonathan Lighter]

I too have come across "assassinate" as a simple synonym for "murder."  (Though"murder" is so easier to say !)  This was on the Web, not in the professional media - yet.

Arnold's point about "infamous" is well taken, but a friend of mine has been using it in what seems to me to be a broader sense for at least a dozen years.  Like so many others, he uses "heinous" to mean "quite unpleasant."

Predicative usage sometimes seems to vary with attributive - a point I can't recall seeing addressed.  For example,

                        "... as well as their infamous [i.e., well-known] names."

sounds much more idiomatic than

                        *"The WB characters' names are infamous [well-known]."

Moreover,

                        "The WB characters are infamous for their entertainment value."

also sounds plausible (and not "feasible," which nowadays is a widely used synonym for "plausible").

Placing an old adjective with a new meaning at the very end of a clause strikes a more discordant note.  To me, anyway.

And in a fans' discussion of the same Warner Bros. project, which will place crime-fighting descendants of Bugs Bunny et al. in the 28th century:

Damn, Lola's gonna be in it (well an ancestor anyways) I may watch it after all, not enjoy it mind you, just watch it.

--- "Are these guys morons!!" Feb. 18, 2005, posted by "da_bunnyman" [ http://forum.bcdb.com/forum/_C1/_F2/Are_these_guys_morons!!_P39945/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=39945;page=2;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;guest=4207007 ]

JL


Jan Kammert <write at SCN.ORG> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Jan Kammert
Subject: Re: "infamous" = famous
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If this is true, then is there a word to replace the meaning I understand
for infamous (famous for doing bad)?

My 8th grade students seem to think that assassination means any murder,
especially a murder for hire. If that's true, is there a new word that
means killing someone who is politically important? I hope the English
language doesn't lose important meanings as old words take on broader
meanings.
Jan


On Sat, 19 Feb 2005, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> Becoming endemic but not in OED, "infamous" as "well-known; famous" :
>
> http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0700world/tm_objectid=15204502&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=futuristic-makeover-for-bugs-bunny-and-co-name_page.html
>
> "Carrot-chomping Bugs Bunny is joined by animated favourites Daffy Duck, Wile E Coyote, the Tasmanian Devil, Road Runner and Lola Bunny.
>
> "However, hardcore fans are in for a shock - the trademark characteristics will be gone, as will their infamous names.
>
> "Bugs is set to be renamed Buzz Bunny, while Daffy Duck will sport a built-in sonar."
>
> "Futuristic makeover for Bugs Bunny and Co," icWales, the national website of Wales,(
> Feb. 18, 2005.
>
> (The story reported is itself worthy of infamy - in the old sense.)
>
> JL
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