[Fwd: Urban Word of the Day: pluto]

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 9/12/06, Arnold M. Zwicky <zwicky at csli.stanford.edu> wrote:
>
> today's verbing...
[...]
> > September 12, 2006: pluto
>
> > Verb. to pluto someone or something is to downgrade, demote or
> > remove altogether from a prestigious group or list, Like what was
> > done to the planet of the same name.
>
> > he was plutoed like an old pair of shoes.

Shortly after the IAU vote, one of the Scientific American bloggers
suggested a new expression: any previously mainstream scientific
theory that has fallen out of favor has "gone to Pluto".

http://blog.sciam.com/index.php?title=sending_science_to_pluto&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

I prefer the snappier verbing.


--Ben Zimmer

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