GREAZY and GREASY

[Laurence Horn]

At 10:40 AM -0600 3/11/05, Sally O. Donlon wrote:
>I've grown up with positive connotations over "greazy."
>
>My father always complained that my mother's cooking wasn't "greazy"
>(or salty) enough. He cooked cajun food like nobody's business and she
>was from the Northeast and could make a mean pot of corned beef and
>cabbage.
>
>Also, when traveling I always prefer to stop in the local "greazy
>spoon" cafe for meals, rather than a slick chain venue. This is
>particularly true for Tex-Mex in the U.S.
>
And in the northeast, where only the pronunciation (at least the only
one I grew up with) is "GREASY", the greasy spoon can also be a
positive designation, although as Ron would point out irony is
involved.  I've always thought [+ greasy] to be a positive evaluation
for french fries, although not for e.g. tempura.

larry