"terminally" = utterly; extraordinarily

[Jonathan Lighter]

>From 1978 via Google Books: "_The World According to Garp_ is a comic
scourge, terminally funny."

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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