"scumble" [Was: Inconsistent taboos on Fox News]

[Jonathan Lighter]

My eighth-grade art teacher was the first person I ever heard use the word to "scumble."  As I recall, he said it meant to rub and rub a line, as sketched, for example, with charcoal, so as to eliminate any sharp edges and present a subdued less distinct effect.

  Perhaps I should have said, "electronically scumbled."  The image of the word "ass" (short for "jackass") was not blacked or blanked out, just softened to the point where you might or might not be able to think you could actually see it. I imagine the technical term would be "pixelated," but, as so often, underlying linguistic structures deployed innovative figuration in unpacking the inarguably absent essence of the reports, though merely prolegomenon to the necessary political meta-(anal)ysis.

  JL

"Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "Joel S. Berson"
Subject: Re: "scumble" [Was: Inconsistent taboos on Fox News]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I took JL's use as "To soften or render less brilliant" (OED2, sense
1.a); for the writing on the board, "to obscure". But of course
he's the one to say.

> At 10/30/2007 12:06 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>On one show they both refused to utter it and scumbled the word
on the board.

Joel

At 10/31/2007 12:12 PM, you wrote:
>Maybe a lexical blend: scramble + jumble. I'm open to other
>interpretations though.
>
>Gerald Cohen
>
> > ----------
> >
> Original message, Oct. 31, 2007 9:18 AM from James Smith:
> > So exactly what does "scumble" mean in this sense? Or was the
> word simply used inaccurately or
> > inappropriately?
> >
> > JIM
> > --- "Joel S. Berson" wrote:
> >
> > > At 10/30/2007 12:06 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > > >On one show they both refused to utter it and
> > > scumbled the word on the board.
> > >
> > > As my mother the high school English teacher told
> > > me, learn a new
> > > word every day. Thanks, JL.
> > >
> > > And OED2 does not have this non-artistic sense.
> > >
> > > Joel
> > >
> > >
> >
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


 __________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org