Slang as something other than language

[Joel S. Berson]

At 12/5/2008 12:46 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>At 9:26 AM -0800 12/5/08, Arnold Zwicky wrote:
>>On Dec 5, 2008, at 8:28 AM, Larry Horn wrote:
>>
>>>At 9:41 AM -0500 12/5/08, Grant Barrett wrote:
>>>>
>>>>... 2008 MSNBC (Dec. 4) Andy Dehnart "'For the Record,' Britney
>>>>reveals
>>>>very little" <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27931958/>: Britney insists
>>>>she is "a very private person" and later says, "I used to be a cool
>>>>chick, you know? And I feel like the paparazzi has taken my whole
>>>>cool
>>>>slang away from me...
>>>
>>>Interesting too that she seems to use "paparazzi" as a mass term (I
>>>assume it's not just one paparzzo she's disturbed by)...
>>
>>that would take "paparazzi" down the route that "media" followed some
>>time ago.
>>
>>the most common treatment of "paparazzi" is not massification, but use
>>as a singular count noun (as well as a plural): many many occurrences
>>of "a/one paparazzi" as well as "this paparazzi" 'this paparazzo'.
>Right, that lone paparazzi eating his panini sandwich.

on the trattoria's terrace watching a graffiti being written on the
wall opposite him.

JSB


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

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