"couch" = to hedge

[Joel S. Berson]

I don't understand.  If Jon means that the "predictable
associated  phrase" can't be suppressed without losing the meaning,
then what about "1880 J. CAIRD Philos. Relig. vii. 195 Materialistic
metaphors under which our spiritual conceptions are couched."?  And I
think none of the OED's quotations under 15.b include such a
phrase.  For instance, the "under which" of 1880 does not address the
notion of caution, just the mode of expression of the couching.  And
the "1691 E. TAYLOR tr. Behmen's Theos. Philos. 410 The whole New
Testament is couched up in the Old." doesn't have a "cautiously" phrase either.

Joel

At 9/15/2009 04:41 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>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:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > 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
> > >
> > >--
> > >"There You Go Again...Using Reason on the Planet of the Duck-Billed
> > >Platypus"
> > >
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>
>
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>"There You Go Again...Using Reason on the Planet of the Duck-Billed
>Platypus"
>
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