semantic drift: "scream"

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Oct 13, 2007, at 9:42 AM, Jon Lighter wrote:

> In my life, "scream" has almost entirely negative or troubling
> connotations: someone's in pain, a bomb is whizzing toward you, a
> factory whistle is going off next to your ear, you're in space and
> nobody can hear you, etc.  In evidence, I submit to you the film
> title, "Scream, Blacula, Scream!" (1973), which was meant to
> suggest horror. The movie advertised itself with the line "The
> Black Prince of Shadows Stalks the Earth Again!"  Pretty scary, no?
>
>   The latest Dell computer catalogue, however, promises that their
> new laptop isn't just an annoying electronic gizmo. Instead, it's
> "a design statement that screams innovation."
>   And they mean that in a good way.
>
>   This is a good example of word inflation inj advertising gone bats.

i don't think the usage is particularly recent or largely a matter
of advertising,  google on {"fairly screams"} for more examples.

NOAD2 says screaming expresses "excitement, great emotion, or pain",
which strikes me as pretty much right.  in any case, not necessarily
negative.  but *loud*, which is what "fairly screams" and similar
expressions pick up on.

older uses of "scream" are still available.  and i can't see how
anyone could misunderstand the figure in uses that have inanimate
objects screaming (or shouting; {"fairly shouts"} nets a considerable
number of hits).

it looks like pretty routine figurative language to me.

arnold

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