popular nuance of "regular"

[Jonathan Lighter]

 Though 1977 is ambiguous, the cites for 3.e. are limited to commercial contexts.  The application to gasoline probably deserves a word in the def.

One wonders whether the nuance in the "Robot Chicken" article  is primary or secondary here.

JL

"Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET> wrote: ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender:       American Dialect Society
Poster:       "Douglas G. Wilson"
Subject:      Re: popular nuance of "regular"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>OED seems not to recognize this very common, informal American usage:
>
>2007
>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robot_Chicken&oldid=126171215 :
>"Robot Chicken...was a regular chicken who was run over by a car...and was
>brought back to life in cyborg form."
>
>I.e., "ordinary; of the familiar sort."
>
>Sense 6.a. comes close; but not, I think, close enough. I'm quite sure
>I've used this sense from at least when I started school in the mid '50s.

Sense 3.e. seems to be at least close to close enough; still it should be
generalized a little, I think; probably the word "ordinary" or some
equivalent should be appended, along with an example or two of the above sort.

-- Doug Wilson


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