another one from a post!

[Wilson Gray]

Mark, as we say in the 'hood: You *sayin'* a taste!

For those who care about the semantics of such things, this is another
bad = good, if you gnome sane. Literally, in the dialect, a "taste" is
a very small amount, which should be fairly clear. So, by saying that
Mark has nothing relevant to say, I really say that everything that he
has to say is of relevance.

If I *really* wanted to get down, I could say:

"Mark, you ain't said *shit*!"

-Wilson


On Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 2:30 PM, Mark Mandel<thnidu at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Mark Mandel <thnidu at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: another one from a post!
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> (sent to the list and to Arnold directly)
>
> On Sun, Aug 16, 2009 at 6:06 PM, Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at stanford.edu> wrote:
>
>>
>> i spent some five hours this morning responding to queries about
>> things that might possibly be labeled as eggcorns.  i now see that
>> this was entirely wasted time, and i won't do it again.  i should have
>> followed up up on my earlier posting about proposing to go away from
>> this newsgroup, following in the footsteps of dennis preston, roger
>> shuy, and barry popik (three very different personalities, by the
>> way).  i will now unsubscribe.
>>
>
> Oh, hell, PLEASE don't let the nincompoops Greshamize this list further!
> Your efforts to keep this and many other demarcations* clear, and those are
> very much appreciated by those of us who are seriously committed to the
> study of language.
>
> Please remember that you're not obligated to answer questions or deal with
> issues or threads that you don't want to. I say this as another who feels an
> often unnecessary compulsion to answer, clarify, and expound.*** No one has
> commanded or even asked you to be eggcorn approval (whatever); you can take
> off that nonexistent hat and throw it away forever, and I beg you to do so.
>
> * I prefer the latinate spelling, so as not to feel personally** involved.
>
> **Mark A. Mandel
>
> *** And footnote.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
-Wilson
–––
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.
-----
-Mark Twain

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