"terminally" = utterly; extraordinarily

[Jonathan Lighter]

True enough, but lexicographers can't be quite that specific. If "I"  am
"terminally stupid," that could suggest a chance of fatality thereby.  But
if "X" is "terminally stupid," that stupidity does not seem to entail actual
danger.

Either way, this use of "terminally" is historically novel.

The secret HDAS files reveal "terminally cool" from 1987, but "I'm a
terminal slob" from 1974.

JL


On Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 6:20 PM, James Smith <jsmithjamessmith at yahoo.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       James Smith <jsmithjamessmith at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "terminally" = utterly; extraordinarily
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I've always taken "terminally" as "fatal"; if I'm terminally stupid, its
> going to end up killing me; if She's terminally beautiful, it's going to end
> up killing me; either way, I lose.
>
>
> James D. SMITH                 |If history teaches anything
> South SLC, UT                  |it is that we will be sued
> jsmithjamessmith at yahoo.com     |whether we act quickly and decisively
>                               |or slowly and cautiously.
>
>
> --- On Mon, 6/29/09, Damien Hall <djh514 at YORK.AC.UK> wrote:
>
> > From: Damien Hall <djh514 at YORK.AC.UK>
> > Subject: "terminally" = utterly; extraordinarily
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Date: Monday, June 29, 2009, 12:51 PM
>  > JL quoted Brian Hanley this:
> >
> > '2008  Brian Hanley  _Planning for Conflict in
> > the Twenty-First Century_
> > (Greenwood) 126: Another illustration of the terminally
> > insidious impact on
> > French society of the Great War.'
> >
> > and said it was a straight-faced use of _terminally_ to
> > mean 'utterly',
> > 'extraordinarily'. But do we know that for sure? The
> > context doesn't make
> > it clear, to me at least, since arguably the Great War
> > _did_ have a
> > terminal impact on many aspects of French (high) society.
> > I'm no French
> > historian, but I believe it's true that the Great War made
> > France take a
> > major step away from being ruled by its aristocracy (even
> > though it had
> > been a republic since 1875).
> >
> > If we accept this, it is possible that this _terminally_
> > could be taken in
> > its literal meaning. We then have to imagine French society
> > being eaten
> > away from the inside, or something, in order for
> > _insidious_ to have the
> > desired effect; but that's not much of a leap to make. Is
> > it?
> >
> > Damien
> >
> > --
> > Damien Hall
> >
> > University of York
> > Department of Language and Linguistic Science
> > Heslington
> > YORK
> > YO10 5DD
> > UK
> >
> > Tel. (office) +44 (0)1904 432665
> >     (mobile) +44 (0)771 853 5634
> > Fax  +44 (0)1904 432673
> >
> > BORDERS AND IDENTITIES CONFERENCE, JAN 2010:
> > http://www.york.ac.uk/res/aiseb/bic2010/
> >
> > http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/lang/people/pages/hall.htm
> >
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