"couch" = to hedge

[Jonathan Lighter]

Close but no Cigarillo.

Like "fraught," this little item was created by the suppression of a
predictable associated  phrase, in this case something like "...in cautious
terms."


JL

On Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 2:14 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "couch" = to hedge
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> A humourous bit that turned up when I consulted the OED:
>
> Find word:  couch
> 6       couch   found in   studio
>
> I have a sense of "couch" like CNN's.  I think it's:
>
> couch, v.1,  15.b. To express in an obscure or veiled way; to cover
> up (an idea, meaning, etc.) under, in, etc. (Formerly sometimes with
> up: cf. to wrap up.)
>
> At 9/15/2009 11:43 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >CNN reports that Ben Bernanke, "like many economists, has been couching
> his
> >statements."
> >
> >Till just now, when the declared the recession "very likely over."
> >
> >JL
> >
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> >"There You Go Again...Using Reason on the Planet of the Duck-Billed
> >Platypus"
> >
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