[ADS-L] semantic drif t: "scream"

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

On the other hand, somebody might just say that this is a slightly 
metaphorical use and not a sign that advertising is destroying the language. As my 
grandmother said a hundred years ago, "You scream, I scream--We all scream for ice 
cream."


In a message dated 10/13/07 12:42:37 PM, wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM writes:


> 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.  
> Vaguely positive, then neutral, then ambivalent words (like "embody," "say," 
> "announce," "proclaim," and even "shout") have been sucked dry (pun intended, 
> Blacula fans).
> 
>   So you get "scream."
> 
>   JL
> 
> 
> 
> 
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