"super"model inflation

[Jesse Sheidlower]

I was amused by this article in the otherwise financially inclined
TheStreet.com, which made some interesting observations on the
description of Donald Trump's wife's former occupation:

---
Back in April and May 2004 -- when Trump and Knauss'
engagement became public -- we found 104 press mentions of
Knauss that mentioned her occupation. In 101 of them, she was
described as a model. In three, a supermodel.

Fast forward to this month, when we found 212 mentions of
Knauss' job. She was identified as a supermodel in 33 of
them. In other words, a model who was rated a supermodel 3% of
the time eight months ago got bumped up to being a supermodel
16% of the time today.
---

No mention of Barry Popik's work on this term, however.

Full article at
http://www.thestreet.com/_tscs/markets/dumbestgm/10205701_4.html

Jesse Sheidlower
OED