bounty = "splendid abundance"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Nope.

The 2008 ex. refers (it seems to me) to the wonderfully large number of
characters, not to anybody's liberality or generosity.

Likewise, back in the '60s, _Playboy_ often described its Playmates and
others as "the bountiful Miss Potrzebie," etc.  Not because they were
munificent but because they were abundantly endowed.

Cf. the more traditional, "a bountiful harvest."  Generous in a sense, yes,
but unless you already knew the word it would seem to mean "splendidly
abundant" or, as M-W has it (sense 2) "given or provided abundantly."

On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 7:53 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: bounty = "splendid abundance"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Isn't this 4.a., "gracious liberality, munificence"?  E.g., "1750
> JOHNSON Rambl. No. 17 {page}4 Every other satisfaction which the
> bounty of Providence has scattered over life." or "1856 FROUDE Hist.
> Eng. (1858) I. iv. 302 Many of these people..were dependent on his
> bounty."?  Or 5.b. "a boon, gift"?
>
> Joel
>
> At 1/15/2009 05:59 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >Not in OED:
> >
> >2008 _The Top 10 Intelligent Designs_ [
> >http://www.livescience.com/history/top10_intelligent_designs-1.html]:
> With
> >its bounty of brawny, barrel-chested gods and buxom goddesses, the ancient
> >Norse religion of the Scandinavian and Germanic countries is truly the
> >creation myth for fans of both pro wrestling and heavy metal music.
> >
> >JL
> >
> >------------------------------------------------------------
> >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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