"defecting"

[Jonathan Lighter]

What Alison says is certainly plausible, but "defect" sounds odd to me in
this context because in my idiot-lect one can only "defect" to the enemy.

The usual phrase, at least in my circle, was simply "go to [or "head for"]
Canada."
JL
On Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 7:23 PM, Alison Murie <sagehen7470 at att.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Alison Murie <sagehen7470 at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "defecting"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Oct 20, 2009, at 2:29 PM, James A. Landau wrote:
>
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "James A. Landau <JJJRLandau at netscape.com>"
> >              <JJJRLandau at NETSCAPE.COM>
> > Subject:      "defecting"
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > I heard a woman, discussing a hippie she had known in the 1980's,
> > refer to "defecting to Canada".
> >
> > I've never heard "defecting" in this context.  Also, considering
> > that the man lived in Princeton NJ circa 1980, is it even correct?
> >
> Where were you during the VietNam war?  One might give  up on another
> US cause (health care, anyone?) & defect to Canada even in the 80s.
> AM
>
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