Dating of "mud flap"?

[Jonathan Lighter]

I find over 9,000 Googits for "Thoreauvian," which I once saw in a book.  Later I used it in a seminar paper, so mellifluous it was.  The professor ridiculed me out of ever using it again; "Thoreauan" was said to be correct.

"Thoreauan" gets 419 hits.

There is now even an _Angry Thoreauan_ magazine.

Ha !

JL

Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Laurence Horn
Subject: Re: Dating of "mud flap"?
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At 9:14 AM -0400 7/12/05, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>Sorry to be picky, but that should be "Rubens-esque", from the painter (as
>it is in the Boston Phoenix).

I'll grant the oddness of that -i-, but I'd vote for "Rubenesque"
over "Rubensesque", given that English writers have voted with their
fingers, and I assume tongues, on this one. Google has 51,400 hits
for the former vs. 789 for the latter. (Or 916, if you allow the
hyphen.) Euphony has evidently prevailed over faithfulness. (Not
that I'll convince everyone; I'm sure Alison will line up with you on
this one!)

Larry

>
>At 7/12/2005 07:42 AM, you wrote:
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>>Sender: American Dialect Society
>>Poster: Jonathan Lighter
>>Subject: Re: Dating of "mud flap"?
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>>
>>Don't know about "Rubinesque," but I first noticed the silhouettes in
>>1973. They may not be much older.
>>
>>JL
>>
>>"Sally O. Donlon" wrote:
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>>Sender: American Dialect Society
>>Poster: "Sally O. Donlon"
>>Subject: Re: Dating of "mud flap"?
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>>
>>What about those Rubinesque silhouettes that adorn the mud flaps of big
>>rigs on highways across the nation? How long have they been around?
>>
>>sally donlon
>>
>>
>>---------------------------------
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