welcomely

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

an ad for the film "The Last Mimzy" (NYT, 3/31/07, p. A23) quoted Jan
Stuart saying in Newsday:

"...Welcomely wry humor.  It speaks its heart in a language that kids
totally get."

it was the "welcomely wry" that caught my eye.  i wondered about the
difference between "welcome wry humor" 'wry humor that is welcome'
and "welcomely wry humor" 'humor that is wry in a welcome way'.

the adverb "welcomely" is in plenty of dictionaries, but just under
the adjective "welcome".  the OED has two senses: "with an expression
of feeling of welcome; gladly, hospitably" (cites from 1595 through
1884, mostly of "welcomely received", plus "welcomely embraced" and
"welcomely entertained"); and "in a manner that is welcomed; so as to
gratify or please" (cites from 1646 through 1874), which is the sense
in the Stuart quote.

plenty of google webhits, though a huge number of them seem to be
from native speakers of german.  here are a few that have no visible
german connection:

For all the deja vu, there are some welcomely unexpected plot twists;
chances are you'll never guess whodunnit until it's revealed in the
final frames.
www.boxoffice.com/boxoffice_scr/movie_reviews_result.asp?terms=3899

An empathy that really is not deeply buried in the first place, but
that is in need of expression, as it's not welcomely received by him.
www.drublood.com/archives/2003/08/jumbled_up.html

... South American Indians whose women Papillon found welcomely free
of European restraints!
www.abebooks.com/sm-search-0007179960-papillon--is!0007179960.html

arnold

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