*tsunamus

[Jonathan Lighter]

I am neither a dumbass nor a seismologist and I'll say "tidal wave" as much
as I goddamned want to.

It doesn't need to have anything to do with regular tides.  It is a
seismic wave that spreads partially in the form of a rising tide.  If
scientists, whose command of English language is rarely up to their command
of arithmetic, think "tsunami" is better because, ooooh!,  they just can't
figure out what "tidal wave" means, or they're afraid that somebody else
can't figure it out no matter how hard they explain it, good for them.

JL



On Sun, Feb 28, 2010 at 4:19 PM, Charles Doyle <cdoyle at uga.edu> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Charles Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: *tsunamus
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The folkgroup that I hung with as an undergraduate was fond of such
> constructions: an "okrum," a "macaronus" (we were more interested in Latin
> than in Italian)--or (in the other direction) a couple of "Kleenices" for
> nose-blowing.
>
> I have heard, proffered seriously (orally), "peni" as the plural of
> "penis"--which is perhaps no weirder in English than "penes."
>
> --Charlie
>
>
> ---- Original message ----
> >Date: Sun, 28 Feb 2010 09:52:30 -0500
> >From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> (on behalf of
> Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>)
> >Subject: Re: *tsunamus
> >
> >Now I want a martino.
> >
> >JL
> >
> >On Sat, Feb 27, 2010 at 8:35 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu
> >wrote:
> >
> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >> -----------------------
> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> >> Subject:      Re: *tsunamus
> >>
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >> At 6:34 PM -0500 2/27/10, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >> >One of Honolulu's news anchors apologized on CNN for having said "tidal
> >> >wave" when he meant "tsunami." He also emphasized that "tsunami" is
> >> >"singular."
> >> >
> >> >Perhaps someone complained about apparent subject-verb discord.
> >> >
> >> >JL
> >>
> >> No, it's not Latin, it's Italian:  Would you like to much on a tasty
> >> panino while you watch the tsunamo?  Of course in the original
> >> Italian it was "zunamo", but it is a loan word after all.
> >>
> >> LH
> >>
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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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--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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