"Freedom of stench"

[Wilson Gray]

Pejoration.

-Wilson, who's not a professor, but merely an interested observer

On Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 2:14 PM, Bill Palmer<w_a_palmer at bellsouth.net> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Bill Palmer <w_a_palmer at BELLSOUTH.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "Freedom of stench"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Interesting side note...from my recall of Anglo-Saxon,of about 45 years ago,
> "stench" (written then, I think as "stenc") meant any kind of smell or odor,
> not just an unpleasant one.
>
> One of the professors out there, tell me what is the name for that process
> ...when the meaning of a word undergoes a degradation in meaning.
>
>
> Bill Palmer
> -----
> From: "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2009 7:23 AM
> Subject: "Freedom of stench"
>
>
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>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>> Subject:      "Freedom of stench"
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> A reporter on ABC TV's "Good Morning America" today, noting that the
>> city council had delayed action on the bill described below after
>> constitutional questions had been raised, asked whether there was a
>> "freedom of stench".
>>
>> "Honolulu City Council is considering a bill that would impose up to
>> $500 fine and/or up to 6 months in jail for transit passengers
>> convicted of being too smelly."
>> [KGMB.com, September 1.]
>> http://kgmb9.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20721&Itemid=76
>>
>> Merely 4 Google hits on "freedom of stench" this morning, despite the
>> fact that this news is an immense two days old, none related to the
>> Honolulu bill.
>>
>> Joel
>>
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--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
-Mark Twain

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