Temperature Stated As a "Negative"

[Wilson Gray]

I use only "minus ..." and "... below (zero)." I grew up in Saint
Louis. As to how "midwestern" that city is I leave as an exercise for
the reader.

-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


On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 6:43 PM, Kari Castor <castor.kari at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Kari Castor <castor.kari at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Temperature Stated As a "Negative"
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>
> Just another midwesterner chiming in that "negative so-many" is common usage
> around these parts.
> Kari
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 1:58 PM, M Covarrubias <mcovarru at purdue.edu> wrote:
>
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>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       M Covarrubias <mcovarru at PURDUE.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: Temperature Stated As a "Negative"
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> all of my midwestern life i've switched between three options:
>>
>> minus-#
>> negative-#
>> #-below
>>
>> i think i say 'minus-#' most often. but i guess i haven't counted.
>>
>> michael
>>
>>
>> On Jan 15, 2009, at 2:09 PM, Barbara Need wrote:
>>
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>> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> > Poster:       Barbara Need <bhneed at GMAIL.COM>
>> > Subject:      Re: Temperature Stated As a "Negative"
>> >
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >
>> > What is correct? Minus? Negative five sounds OK to me--but I've lived
>> > in the Midwest much of my life.
>> >
>> > Barbara
>> >
>> > Barbara Need
>> >
>> > On 15 Jan 2009, at 12:24 PM, 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
>> >
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