positionality = "social status or position"

[Jonathan Lighter]

You mean "dubya" ?

  JL

Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Laurence Horn
Subject: Re: positionality = "social status or position"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>Perhaps it's the contamination of saying "double-u, double-u,
>double-u" so many times that makes syllables seem cheap.
> L. Urdang
> Old Lyme

Yes, in a way it's surprising that hasn't turned into "Tridub" or
something similarly reduced by now.

LH

>
>Beverly Flanigan wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender: American Dialect Society
>Poster: Beverly Flanigan
>Subject: Re: positionality = "social status or position"
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Sure. Why use a three-syllable word when you can use a six-syllable one?
>
>At 01:54 PM 8/28/2007, you wrote:
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>Sender: American Dialect Society
>>Poster: Jonathan Lighter
>>Subject: positionality = "social status or position"
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>Dr. James Peterson of Bucknell appeared on Fox's _Live Desk_ in a
>>discussion of the Michael Vick case. He suggested that in regard to
>>inner-city youngsters who have become successful professional athletes,
>>many people resent their "positionality in our culture."
>>
>> An admittedly cursory examination of the 60,000 "positionality"
>> Googlits reveals that it means something like "social status or position
>> as determined by a combination of inherent and socially attributed
>> characteristics."
>>
>> In other words, notably in the present case, "social status or position."
>>
>> JL
>>
>>
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