"salacious" = sensational?

[Jonathan Lighter]

From, the Fox News website [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,274796,00.html] (May 22, 2007):

  "MALIBU, Calif. —  Floyd Landis wriggled through an uncomfortable cross-examination Tuesday, carefully answering questions about the color of his tie and the timing of the firing of the manager who threatened to reveal Greg LeMond's childhood sex abuse if he testified.

  "It was yet another salacious morning in the Tour de France champion's arbitration hearing, which has veered wildly between boring, dense science and allegations of witness tampering and who knew what when."

  The ref. to "sex abuse" might suggest  that this is an unremarkable use of "salacious," but read more carefully.  The writer isn't characterizing the details of the alleged blackmail, he's describing the effect of the morning's hearing on his personal applause-o-meter.

  Moments ago, _Fox News Live_ described the divorce involved here

  http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Jun13/0,4670,GayGovernor,00.html

  as "salacious."  But not even Fox is likely to consider the case literally "salacious" just because it involves a gay man and accusations of homophobia.

  Besides, "salacious" usually carries strong connotations of intension.  Generally, something is "salacious" if made so to appeal to the public. A "salacious" hearing or a "salacious" divorce sounds weird to me. You'll have noted that "salacious" sounds vaguely like "sensational" (which has long tended to mean "excitingly entertaining").

  However one interprets the above exx., OED's article on "salacious" needs revision.

  JL




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