Teen Lingo site

[Jonathan Lighter]

The only way I could tell was that I saw the phrase in print back in '69 and it was explained that "wolf" was either the "correct" spelling or that "wolf" varied freely with "woof." Can't remember.  As the kind of guy for whom these spelling unambiguously denote distinct words, it didn't occur to me right away that they were almost necessarily the same for many speakers. I was thinking not cockerpoo but mastiff.  (To me, cockerpoos arf; things bigger than I am woof. These, along with "yip," are hyponyms of "bark.") (Could have said "are subsumed in," but I get even fewer opportunities to say "hyponym.")

So the big question is where to put the cross reference.  I guess it should be at "woof" and all cites at "wolf" - even though most of the published ones will be spelled "woof."  In this racket, you can't win and you can't even break even!

JL

Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Wilson Gray
Subject: Re: Teen Lingo site
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Ah, I was really asking for info, not being defensive, Jon. How *would*
a person tell? I've never seen any spelling in print except "woof" in
this particular context, But, I heard this spoken years before I ever
saw it in print. Even if "wolf" and "woof" had exactly the same
pronunciation, I would still have to go with "wolf" and not "woof,"
because a "wolf-ticket" is a threat to mount a physical attack against
someone. The "woofing" of a little cockerpoo would render the term
ridiculous. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Not every threat
is made seriously. But even a joking threat has to sound threatening.

At my age, I doubt that any young pepper-chest would take me seriously,
if I threatened to kick his ass till my knee-joint caught on fire or if
I threatened to reach down his throat and tear his asshole out. But if
I threatened to step on his toes the next time that I saw him
barefooted, I would sound brain-damaged and beyond ridiculous.

-Wilson

On Jan 31, 2005, at 11:12 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Jonathan Lighter
> Subject: Re: Teen Lingo site
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> Words mispelled. Buttons rongpushed. Ize blured. World sems nycer..
>
> JL.
>
> Wilson Gray wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Wilson Gray
> Subject: Re: Teen Lingo site
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> How can one tell?
>
> -Wilson, just wondering
>
> On Jan 31, 2005, at 8:10 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>> Poster: Jonathan Lighter
>> Subject: Re: Teen Lingo site
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> -
>> --------
>>
>> I meant "woof," of course, "by 1969."
>>
>> Losing it.
>>
>> JL
>>
>> Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>> Poster: Jonathan Lighter
>> Subject: Re: Teen Lingo site
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> -
>> --------
>>
>> Yes. But it was already "wolf" by 1969.
>>
>> JL
>>
>> "Douglas G. Wilson" wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>> Poster: "Douglas G. Wilson"
>> Subject: Re: Teen Lingo site
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> -
>> --------
>>
>>> .... Some of the terms are about seventy years old, others
>>> are terms so new that, if I hadn't read the list, I wouldn't have a
>>> clue.
>>>>
>>>> http://www.thesource4ym.com/teenlingo/index.asp
>>
>> I like "selling woof tickets". It used to be "wolf", didn't it?
>>
>> -- Doug Wilson
>>
>>
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