malaprop? or what?

[Jonathan Lighter]

I'm with Arnold on this one.  You can "jump on the bandwagon" or have a "bandwagon effect," but the quoted ex. had me baffled until David suggested an paraphrase.

David, if "bandwagon" has been concretized into "an idea that has gained momentum," would  sentences like the following be idiomatic for you ?

1. ? Social security reform is clearly becoming a bandwagon.

2. ? Steroid testing for lexicographers?  That's a bandwagon nowadays.

How about an adj.:

 3. ? ST for Ls is becoming bandwagon.

Hmmm. The more I say them, the more normal they sound.  HELP MEEEEEEE!!!!!!

JL

David Bowie <db.list at PMPKN.NET> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: David Bowie
Subject: Re: malaprop? or what?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Arnold M. Zwicky"

> from an NYT story "Trailer-Park Dwellers Fight Eviction From
> Paradise" by Chris Dixon, 5/2/05, p. A12 (the paradise in question is
> the beach at Laguna Beach, California):
> -----
> ...with a slice of paradise on the line, most residents have chosen
> to fight.

> "They're pulling this old bandwagon that's long dead and not true,"
> said Tim Williams, 36, who has lived at El Morro for nearly four
> years with his wife, Dalila, and their son, Sebastian, 5. "Saying
> people are denied access--that's a lie."
> -----
> ok, "bandwagon" is clearly not the word for the job. something like
> "canard" would fit. but what word was this guy aiming for? (or,
> alternatively, what did he say that the reporter misheard as
> "bandwagon"?)

"Bandwagon" works for me--what's wrong with it? Is it clear in the story
that he's not talking about an idea that has gained momentum (which is,
to me, the general sense of the word)?

--
David Bowie http://pmpkn.net/lx
Jeanne's Two Laws of Chocolate: If there is no chocolate in the
house, there is too little; some must be purchased. If there is
chocolate in the house, there is too much; it must be consumed.

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