sunset

[Jonathan Lighter]

The Congressman was clear that he would be very sorry to see any of them go.


I don't feel that either term _per se_ either requires or rules out the
possibility of extension. "Sunset," however, makes me feel much warmer and
fuzzier than "expire," with just the right touch of old-guy melancholy, so I
guess I'll have to go with extending all the PA provisions.

JL

On Fri, Jan 8, 2010 at 11:21 AM, 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: sunset
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> There are a lot of people who would be very happy to see certain provisions
> of the Patriot Act go, to take one example.
>
> I would say the operative difference is that "sunset" inherently includes
> the notion of a potential extension (it can rise again). "Expiration" does
> not necessarily contain the expectation of possible extension, e.g., the
> milk in your refrigerator "expires," it does not "sunset."
>
> Also, of course, "sunset" is primarily used for legislation.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of
> Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 7:57 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: sunset
>
> The difference between "sunset" and "expire" seems to be that when things
> "sunset," you're supposed to be so sad to see them go.
>
> JL
>
> On Fri, Jan 8, 2010 at 10:39 AM, Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at stanford.edu>
> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at STANFORD.EDU>
> > Subject:      Re: sunset
> >
> >
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---
> >
> > On Jan 7, 2010, at 5:55 PM, Herb Stahlke wrote:
> >
> > > ... I
> > > got 41k raw googits for "will sunset," putting the search string in
> > > quotes.  After scanning the first ten pages I would guess that maybe
> > > 30-40 percent were transitive or intransitive verbs meaning "terminat,
> > > expire."
> >
> > and the "sunset provision" verb has a subentry (of the general
> > "sunset" entry) in OED2, where it's marked as north american.  there
> > are cites for both intransitive and transitive uses, from 1978 on.
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org