Rip Van Winkles/Sleeping Beauties

[Jonathan Lighter]

Alison, I didn't even learn it till the mid to late '50s, and I still use
it, though not so often as I might.

Of course, nothing really is as "neat" now as it was then.

JL




On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 4:26 PM, Alison Murie <sagehen7470 at att.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Alison Murie <sagehen7470 at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Rip Van Winkles/Sleeping Beauties
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  On Feb 12, 2010, at 3:27 PM, Eric Nielsen wrote:
>
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Eric Nielsen <ericbarnak at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Rip Van Winkles/Sleeping Beauties
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > How about Lazarus words. "Sleeping Beauty" and "Rip Van Winkle"
> > could refer
> > to words that still have a life, i.e. some limited current usage.
> >
> > Eric
> >
> > On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 3:18 PM, Baker, John <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:
> >
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> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster:       "Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM>
> >> Subject:      Re: Rip Van Winkles/Sleeping Beauties
> >>
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >>       Perhaps "jape," thought to have become archaic in the 16th
> >> century but revived in the 19th, would be another example, although
> >> it
> >> is different from these in that its 19th century revival was fairly
> >> limited, while Mark's examples are of words that achieved a
> >> prominence
> >> they never previously held.  I prefer "late bloomer" as the name for
> >> such words, but I suppose "Sleeping Beauty" is more colorful.  "Rip
> >> Van
> >> Winkle" seems an unsuitable term, since that implies an extended
> >> quiescence followed by a return to a prior state.
> >>
> >>
> >> John Baker
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> >> Behalf
> >> Of Mark Peters
> >> Sent: Friday, February 12, 2010 11:45 AM
> >> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >> Subject: Rip Van Winkles/Sleeping Beauties
> >>
> >> Hey all,
> >>
> >> I'm doing a column on terms like unfriend--which, as Ben discussed
> >> here
> >> (http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2145/)--took a long
> >> linguistic nap before emerging as a common word the last couple of
> >> years.
> >>
> >> I'm collecting examples of other sleeping beauties: words recorded
> >> long
> >> ago that suddenly jump into prominence, becoming prime examples of
> >> the
> >> recency illusion. Besides unfriend, I have not, truthiness, and
> >> doh. Any
> >> other examples would be hugely appreciated.
> >>
> >> Also, if anyone has an opinion on whether Rip Van Winkles or Sleeping
> >> Beautiesis a better term for this kind of word, I'd love to hear the
> >> reasons.
> >>
> >> Thanks, word-herders!
> >>
> >> Mark
> >> http://wordlust.blogspot.com/
> ~~~~~~~~~~
> I'm not sure what its status is now, but "neat"  was an expression
> from my childhood, meaning what would now be called "cool," roughly.
> I thought it had completely died out in the '50s, but heard it
> frequently again from the ''70s to '90s.  It may be that its use has
> been mainly among people of an age to have known it back in the '30s
> &'40s.
> AM
>
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