Beyonce and "the dictionary"

[Wilson Gray]

On 3/9/06, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Beyonce and "the dictionary"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 5:49 AM -0800 3/9/06, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >"The budding linguist" !    Beyonce' is awesome and all that, OK,
> >but in the total context,  that phrase sums up much of what is
> >*wrong* with American education.
> >
> >   Think about it.
> >
> >   JL
>
> Well, they *could* have referred to her as a cunning one.
>
> LH

Larry, you remind me of Jimmy Durante, who used to say, "I got a
million of 'em!" ;-)

-Wilson

> >
> >Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU> wrote:
> >   ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >-----------------------
> >Sender: American Dialect Society
> >Poster: Benjamin Zimmer
> >Subject: Beyonce and "the dictionary"
> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >So let's see... "bootylicious" got an OED draft entry in Sep. 2004
> >(and it's also in the latest editions of the Oxford Dictionary of
> >English and the New Oxford American), but I guess Beyonce's people are
> >just hearing about it now. And they're telling her she invented it.
> >And tabloid "news" outlets take her at her word. Hey, she's Beyonce,
> >clearly an authority on "the dictionary"!
> >
> >See ,
> >which currently finds 26 articles like this one:
> >
> >-----
> >http://entertainment.news.com.au/story/0,10221,18400757-7484,00.html
> >Beyonce's boost
> >March 09, 2006
> >CURVY women around the world will soon have an official term for their
> >bouncy butts, thanks to R'n'B diva Beyonce.
> >Bootylicious, the term coined by the former Destiny's Child star for
> >her own dangerous curves - and made famous by the hit single of the
> >same name - will reportedly be added to the dictionary.
> >But the Naughty Girl singer is not too impressed by her newfound
> >status as a wordsmith.
> >"I'm not very proud of that. It's in the dictionary - it's crazy," she
> >said to Britain's TV Hits magazine.
> >The 24-year-old, who is famous for her hot hip-shaking in film clips
> >for songs such as Crazy In Love, says she would have stuck it out and
> >put more thought into the term if she had known it would be recorded
> >in the lexicon.
> >"I wrote the song, but I wish there was another word I could have come
> >up with if I was going to have a word in the dictionary," she said to
> >the pop mag.
> >The budding linguist, who is dating rap king Jay-Z, hasn't yet had a
> >chance to see if the dictionary's definition is by the book, but she
> >has offered her own spin on the word.
> >"I don't know what it says in the dictionary but my definition is
> >beautiful, bountiful and bounce-able," she said.
> >-----
> >
> >
> >--Ben Zimmer
> >
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