Language notes from the slopes of E-15.

[Wilson Gray]

It's also a good bet that any Icelander that you encounter will have
heard of any other Icelander of any note, e.g. "famous in the field."
At M.I.T in the '70's, I had an Icelandic classmate who is now
somewhat known in the field. In the '80's, I encountered a random
Harvard undergraduate from Iceland. When I started to tell him about
my former classmate, he interrupted, saying, "Of course! You're
referring to Prof. [Hoskuldur] Thrainsson!" He went on to explain that
Iceland is such a small country, without a lot happening, that, in
effect, the entire population has already been (in)famous, locally,
for at least fifteen minutes. It was very likely that, if I met
another Icelander and mentioned my interlocutor's name, that Icelander
probably would be at least familiar with it - Local Boy Makes Good!
Admitted To Harvard! - and, perhaps, might even be from the same
'hood.

OTOH, I peaked dekkids ago, when George Lakoff, famous in the field of
linguistics, upon meeting me, expostulated, "Oh, yes! I've heard of
you!" Otherwise, though I have been close to greatness, yet have I
failed to achieve greatness.

BTW, a nephew of the late William Safire is FITF of M.I.T.-school linguistics.

-Wilson

On Fri, Jun 25, 2010 at 4:43 PM, Gordon, Matthew J.
<GordonMJ at missouri.edu> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Gordon, Matthew J." <GordonMJ at MISSOURI.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Language notes from the slopes of E-15.
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On 6/25/10 9:52 AM, "Jonathan Lighter" <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
>
> 6. English-language T-shirts warning "DON'T FUCK WITH ICELAND! We may not
> have cash, but we've got ash!"
>
> ---
>
>
>
> It took me several readings before I realized this was not a proclamation of alphabetic pride.
>
> -Matt Gordon
>
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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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