Ruth Wajnryb on WOTY

[Jonathan Lighter]

"American" is Americocentric, "dialect" means the funny way illiterates talk, and "society" implies an elite self-chosen to laff at them.

  OFFENSIVE!

  JL

Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Benjamin Zimmer
Subject: Ruth Wajnryb on WOTY
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ruth Wajnryb, language columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald, has a
piece on Word of the Year selections and "New-Word Lists" (NWLs, as
she calls them).

http://www.smh.com.au/news/books/omigod-the-whaletails-are-eating-the-muffin-tops/2008/02/15/1202760574340.html
Omigod, the whaletails are eating the muffin tops
Ruth Wajnryb, February 16, 2008
[...]
"Perhaps the most famous new-word list is that announced annually by
the American Dialect Society with the fanfare with which Americans
like to do these things. The society has been around since 1889 and
really should do something about its outdated name."


Uh, thanks for the advice, Ruth.


--Ben Zimmer

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



---------------------------------
Never miss a thing.   Make Yahoo your homepage.

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