"underlooked"

[Dennis R. Preston]

Larry,

Alas! I fear you have reason (although we appear to not have been the
only ones to underlook them).

dInIs

>At 7:19 AM -0500 3/20/06, Dennis R. Preston wrote:
>>Larry,
>>
>>In hoops, to have a good opportunity to score is to have a "good
>>look." Announcers regularly say stuff like "X didn't get a lot of
>>good loooks tonight." If X's teammates didn't get the ball to her
>>enough (i.e., provide her with enough "touches"), then she wouldn't
>>be getting many goood looks. Perhaps this usage influenced this funny
>>"underlooked."
>>
>>dInIs
>
>I think you're trying too hard--most of the 14,000 web hits are for
>underlooked movies, MP3 releases, and so on, rather than basketball
>players.  I feel for you, dInIs; you're probably trying to come to
>terms with the Spartans' early exit after they underlooked George
>Mason...
>
>Larry
>
>>
>>>I'm not sure whether it's an eggcorn, a blend, or both.  One of the
>>>commentators on the NCAA women's basketball tournament was commenting
>>>on one of the star players for Rutgers who doesn't have that much
>>>support from her teammates (it's basically a two-(wo)man team) and
>>>thus doesn't get as much attention for player of the year
>>>consideration as she might otherwise.  Her comment:
>>>
>>>"It's a shame that Cappie Pondexter gets underlooked."
>>>
>>>--turns out there are 14,100 raw hits.  Blend of "overlooked" and
>>>"underXed" (under-recognized, under-appreciated, etc.)?  Or just
>>>reanalysis via a prefix that seems to fit the semantics better than
>>>"over-" does?
>>>
>>>Larry
>>>
>>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>>--
>>Dennis R. Preston
>>University Distinguished Professor
>>Department of English
>>15-C Morrill Hall
>>Michigan State University
>>East Lansing, MI 48824-1036
>>Phone: (517) 353-4736
>>Fax: (517) 353-3755
>>preston at msu.edu
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
Morrill Hall 15-C
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1036 USA
Office: (517) 353-4736
Fax: (517) 353-3755

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