"Articulated" as Verb

[Wilson Gray]

When I was a kid, a black DJ used "become acquainted with the
hardwood" to mean "put one's feet on the floor, take one's feet off
the desk and get to work, get up out of the Contour Lounge, stand up,
etc." "Pswaydo-upscale," so to speak, more-or-less nonce formations,
whether serious or joking, have long been popular among black
speakers. Minstrel shows and vaudeville used to mock blacks - and even
newly- immigrated white ethnic groups - WRT this tendency.

-Wilson

[Damn! I meant to send this to my wife.]

On Thu, Jun 26, 2008 at 6:55 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "Articulated" as Verb
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Quoting "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>:
>
>> "To articulate oneself" doesn't seem 'right' to me. At a glance,
>> instances of this reflexive usage seem to be mostly (but not entirely)
>> very recent.
>>
>> I suppose the rationale might go like this.
>>
>> "To articulate one's ideas" = "to [clearly] express one's ideas". [Seems
>> OK so far.]
>>
>> Therefore "to articulate" = "to express".
>>
>> Therefore "to articulate oneself" = "to express oneself".
>>
>> In a casual glance at a few conventional dictionaries, I find "express
>> oneself" but not "articulate oneself".
>>
>> -- Doug Wilson
>
> I agree that "articulate oneself" doesn't seem "right," perhaps because it
> reminds me of "disarticulate," to separate at the joints, which could make
> communication difficult. Nor does the image of self-assembly help much
> to build
> a compliment.
>
> Stephen Goranson
>
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>



--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
 -Sam'l Clemens

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