rich

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Mon Dec 27 19:17:50 UTC 2010


At 11:42 AM -0700 12/27/10, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>Another word with a new, nonspecific commercial meaning that depends on
>well-established connotations to "do the job."
>
>I'm holding a package containing a "hardshell protective case" made by AT&T
>(or "at&t," as they now style it) that is "Compatible with Samsung Strive."
>  It's made of plastic and metal.
>
>According to the blurb, it "Features rich, durable material."
>
>Whatever "rich" means in this context, it's a recent development.  I'd
>expect it to designate something like "luxurious," perhaps, but the case is
>just smooth, low-gloss, black plastic: extremely mundane.
>
>JL

Well, since "rich" for coffee means basically 'strong', as far as I
can tell, maybe it just means that the hardshell case is strong,
which of course "durable" already tells us.

LH

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