Temperature Stated As a "Negative"

[Laurence Horn]

At 1:24 PM -0500 1/15/09, Doug Harris wrote:
>I've heard this a couple of times recently, once from someone in
>Nebraska, once from a CNN
>presenter who _may_ have been in or from the midwest:
>A below-zero Fahrenheit temperature reported as, say, _negative 15_.
>I tried to convince my Nebraska friend (who's also lived in Iowa and
>ND) that that terminology
>isn't correct, but she's continued using it.
>Is that phrasing as uncommon as I suspect? Is it specific to a
>certain geography?
>dh
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

Seems to me I've been hearing that for years, probably decades, and
in different places.  I use "minus 15" myself, but I think the
"negative" is not uncommon.

LH

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