"Fair Use" Not in OED

[Dennis R. Preston]

Esteemed colleague Ron,

You are right about the complexity of the stress rules for adjuncts
versus compounds; in the case under question, however, I thought your
suggestion was a good way to lead David to the trough of truth, since
he seemed to be wandering in the wilderness.

dInIs


>In a message dated 2/15/06 2:09:14 PM, preston at MSU.EDU writes:
>
>
>>  Ron,
>>
>>  But wouldn't this compounding (and hence stress assignment) use have
>>  followed from the establishment of the "term"? On the other hand,
>>  that's a historical question (the one I had in mind primarily), and
>>  you are quite right, learned colleague, to have guided David into
>>  distinguishing the current uses by pointing out this difference.
>>
>>  dInIs
>>
>
>Thank you, fellow learned colleague. I suppose it is true that compounds
>always have a social history, else they would not have become compounds?
>
>It is also the case that stress placement is not quite so simple as the intro
>texts make it out to be. See Fudge, for example. Thus one could place the
>stress in the following in various ways:
>
>Sending Jones to the Yankees in exchange for Smith was, it seems to me, a
>fair use of a morally rotten scoundral.
>
>Also, FAIR USE in the legal sense is quite often used as an adjunct (FAIR USE
>LAWS) which messes up the stress.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
15C Morrill Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
517-353-4736
preston at msu.edu

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org