bounty = "splendid abundance"

[Joel S. Berson]

Don't concede, Wilson.  In Jonathan's quotation, it's "ITS bounty"
(the Norse religion's) that gives one the "brawny, barrel-chested
gods and buxom goddesses", not "bountuous / bountiful = buxom,
abundantly figured".  A more bountiful religion than your Methodists'
or Catholics', clearly.  :-)

Joel

At 1/15/2009 08:08 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>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

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