celebutard

[Jonathan Lighter]

Yes, of those who responded to my posting of "celebutard," only Laurence Horn (who TEACHES AT YALE) passed the "irony-awareness test" subliminally included.
  There may be hope, however, for James Smith.

  Part of my job as an educator with a degree in English is to promote irony awareness. I take my job seriously.

  JL

Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Laurence Horn
Subject: Re: celebutard
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At 11:01 AM -0400 6/8/07, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
>On 6/8/07, Laurence Horn wrote:
>>
>>At 9:42 AM -0400 6/8/07, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
>>>On 6/8/07, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>>>
>>>>A Fox News spot just characterized Paris Hilton as a "celebutard."
>>>>
>>>>[Perh. blend of _celebrity_ + _debutante_ + _bankcard_, in ref. to
>>>>her fabulous shopping sprees]
>>>>
>>>> Perh.
>>>
>>>It's far more unkind. Try _celebrity_ + _debutante_ + _retard_.
>>
>>um, I believe that's what JL had in mind...
>
>Yes, it appears we all missed the subtle Lighterian wit (except for
>Larry H., clearly on his wavelength).

It was the "Perh." that tipped me off (besides the implausibility of
JL missing the 'tard component)

>
>> >More here:
>>>http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004066.html
>
>
>--Ben Zimmer
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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