crazy/insane gradation

[Mark Mandel]

At least 20 years older. In 1981 we moved from Berkeley to eastern Mass.,
and "wicked good" was a prominent idiom that took some getting used to.

A dateable memory (1983-1990, while I was working, in Billerica, MA, for
Honeywell / Honeywell Bull / Bull): In the cafeteria, another employee at
the table was complaining vociferously about the "illogic" of this
expression, since "wicked" is very much opposite to "good". I said,
approximately, "Oh, I don't know about that. I kind of like it. I think it's
pretty good. In fact, it's *awful nice*." She literally stopped for a second
or so, frozen with her fork in mid-lift, her head bent toward it, and her
mouth open. Someone else said, "He's got you there!"

m a m

On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 3:58 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

> The adv. "wicked" has become pretty iconic teen lingo in the last decade or
> so, associated especially with the Boston area.
>
> JL
>

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