positionality = "social status or position"

[Dennis Preston]

I am afraid you have missed a Federal Pronunciation Mandate (an FPM),
issued several years ago, that declares that the letter "W" will now
be pronounced "dubyuh."

Your bad.

dInIs

>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Laurence Urdang <urdang at SBCGLOBAL.NET>
>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
>
>Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OHIO.EDU> 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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--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
Morrill Hall 15-C
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48864 USA

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