"Articulated" as Verb

Wilson Gray hwgray at GMAIL.COM
Fri Jun 27 02:33:13 UTC 2008


Wasn't it the case that the original post quoted Sean Combs? I doubt
that he has ever looked up the verb "articulate" in any dictionary or
that he's ever experienced the word in the same way that a white
person has. More likely, he pulled it out of his ass as he was
speaking in order to produce an effect, "to create a disturbance in
[his hearers'] mind[s]," to get over.

Apparently, he got over far better than he's ever likely to know.

-Wilson

On Thu, Jun 26, 2008 at 12:10 PM, Marc Velasco <marcjvelasco at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Marc Velasco <marcjvelasco at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "Articulated" as Verb
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I'm ambivalent.  In my experience, one usually articulates 'small' things:
> vowels, t's, in speech, particular notes in music, etc.  This corresponds
> with meaning (1) below.  But one can even articulate entire ideas at once, =
> a
> la meaning (3), and this seems to be what Combs was going for.
>
> The way I read it, she presented herself articulately.
>
> But if _present_ doesn't have enough oomph as a verb, then maybe he had to
> say she _articulated_ herself.
>
>
> And here's an ignorant question: is _articulate_ (adj) a loaded term?  I
> remember it from the Biden/Obama dust-up about Obama's being clean,
> articulate, etc.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> one dictionary (freedictionary)
>
> *v.* (-lt) *ar=B7tic=B7u=B7lat=B7ed*, *ar=B7tic=B7u=B7lat=B7ing*, *ar=B7tic=
> =B7u=B7lates*
> *v.**tr.**1. * To pronounce distinctly and carefully; enunciate.
> *2. * To utter (a speech sound) by making the necessary movements of the
> speech organs.
> *3. * To express in coherent verbal form; give words to: couldn't articulat=
> e
> my fears.
> *4. * To fit together into a coherent whole; unify: a plan to articulate
> nursing programs throughout the state.
> *5. * *Anatomy* To unite by forming a joint or joints.
> *6. * *Architecture* To give visible or concrete expression to (the
> composition of structural elements): a spare design in which windows and
> doors are barely articulated.
> *v.**intr.**1. * To speak clearly and distinctly.
> *2. * To utter a speech sound.
> *3. * *Anatomy* To form a joint; be jointed: The thighbone articulates with
> the bones of the hip.
>
>
> Am Herit.
>
> *Verb*
> [*-lating*, *-lated*]
> *1*. to speak clearly and distinctly
> *2*. to express coherently in words [Latin *articulare* to divide into
> joints]
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
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-----
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