least likely to succeed? really?

[ronbutters at AOL.COM]

The New Words circus is a fine ongoing publicity stunt. It has little or no scientific interest or basis. (What does "Word of the Year" even really mean?) Still, while it gives a distorted and trivializing view of language study, people seem to enjoy it, and it arguably brings positive public attention to a conference that the public would otherwise find largely boring and useless.

I agree with Larry that the results with respect to "least likely to succeed" are ridiculous.  But recall "Bush lips" and "truthiness" and a host of other "words" that the Circus in past years recognized as winners for various categories, all of which would have done best as "least likely to succeed."  This year's choices were generally no sillier than those of other years--and equally forgettable.


------Original Message------
From: Laurence Horn
Sender: ADS-L
To: ADS-L
ReplyTo: ADS-L
Subject: [ADS-L] least likely to succeed?  really?
Sent: Jan 8, 2010 11:42 PM

Two minutes ago, or 5 hours +/- after "oughties/naughties/*any* term
designating the 2000-09 decade" was voted, over my opposition, the
least likely to succeed, I just heard the following sentence on ESPN,
although I may have a couple of words outside the relevant
prepositional phrases wrong and I'm not sure the 90's dominating D
was the Cowboys' (maybe it was the Giants'):

"Every decade has had a dominating defense in the NFL--the Steelers
in the 70's, the Bears in the 80's, the Cowboys in the 90's, the
Ravens in the two thousands."

The question was whose defense would step up to become the dominating
D of the upcoming decade, and while the reporter didn't try to
provide a name for that one, she clearly intended her use of "the two
thousands" to refer to the decade just ended.  So another expression
successfully used (not just mentioned or proposed) for that
unnameable decade.  I still haven't heard anyone use (as opposed to
mentioning) "poliwood" or (my personal fave) "sea kitten".  Q.E.D.

LH

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