"justify": another reversal

[Wilson Gray]

Different strokes, y'all. Shine it on.

-Wilson

On Sat, Feb 13, 2010 at 2:04 PM, Dave Wilton <dave at wilton.net> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "justify": another reversal
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I have no doubt that the Bad Girls usage is exactly how you say. I'm just
> pointing out that the initial assessment of a "foolish slip" is the correct
> one as there does not seem to be any significant wider use of the
> expression. I don't think the data (a half dozen or so ghits) is
> significant.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Saturday, February 13, 2010 9:58 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: "justify": another reversal
>
> The data is limited but significant.
>
> The speaker on TV was not being ironic. Nor was she groping for words. She
> thought the punishment was too severe and said so.
>
> She thought.
>
> JL
>
> On Sat, Feb 13, 2010 at 12:07 PM, Dave Wilton <dave at wilton.net> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
>> Subject:      Re: "justify": another reversal
>>
>>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---
>>
>> Of those 1500 ghits, only about 13 are actual hits. The others are
>> repetitions and quotes of the original. And in some of the 13, the phrase
>> is
>> being used ironically--expressing the opinion that light punishment
>> encourages violations.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
>> Of
>> Jonathan Lighter
>> Sent: Saturday, February 13, 2010 7:17 AM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: "justify": another reversal
>>
>> Add to the list that includes _ancestor_, _substitute_, and (soon) _*via_.
>>
>> Said a college-grad Bad Girl this week, "I don't think the punishment
>> justifies the crime!"  She meant it didn't fit the crime.
>>
>> I was going to ignore this as a foolish slip. Then I found nearly 1500 raw
>> Googlits for "punishment justifies the crime."
>>
>> JL
>> --
>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
>>
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>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
-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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