plaidoyer [WAS: dialectology in linguistics]

[Joel S. Berson]

At 7/30/2010 07:54 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>Plaidoyer?  Impressive. (Research shows it's French for "plea.")

I envisioned a court clerk dressed in a Scottish tartan kilt, calling
the courtroom to order.*

Joel

* Just think of me as a final -r and -z dropper.  If you're finicky,
instead imagine the Scottish clerk reading a case document in the courtroom.


>GB turns up no previous uses in English, though there are some recent ones
>on line.
>
>I suppose one could argue that "plea" sounds desperate and inferior while
>"plaidoyer" (if you know what it means) sounds dignified, worldly-wise, and
>confident.
>
>Unless you're French.
>
>(Another possibility - that it sounds pretentious and absurd and
>intentionally mystifying - need not be discussed.)
>
>(A computer glitch, i.e. human error, sent this formerly two-part messge to
>Damien only.)
>
>JL
>
>--
>"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

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