"write," n. = "something intended to be read; a writing."

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Fri, Sep 22, 2006 at 03:27:10PM -0400, Charles Doyle wrote:
>
> That would correspond to the noun "read" (OED, n.2), which
> has always struck me as pretentious.  At a social gathering
> a few years ago, I heard an ostentatiously well-read
> individual refer to each of three differents recent novels
> as "a compelling read."

I have the exact opposite reaction--I find _read_ n. to
be colloquial, and if an ostentatious egghead referred to
a novel as a "good read", I'd assume that the book is
quite unpretentious and that the egghead is attempting to
be relaxed in his or her reading choices.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

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