yoda as a generic

[Jonathan Lighter]

There is?  Other than the denotation, I mean.

Now if the contrast were, "He's a regular Yoda" and "He's a quisling," I'd
have to agree.  If one turns to Ron as their linguistics yoda, surely that's
generic.

I prophesy/prophesize that if "yoda" is not yet widely used and recognized
as a synonym for "guru," it soon will be.

Also, who sez the origin must be forgotten to make a "true generic"?

JL


On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 1:54 PM, Charles Doyle <cdoyle at uga.edu> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Charles Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: yoda as a generic
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Ron may be grumpy, but I'd say he's also RIGHT. There's all the difference
> in the world, lexically, between "He's a yoda" and "He's a quisling."
>
> --Charlie
>
>
> ---- Original message ----
> >Date: Tue, 4 May 2010 13:42:14 -0400
> >From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> (on behalf of
> Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>)
> >
> >Ron, are you auditioning for Grinch or for Scrooge? Or are you trying to
> >genericize your own name?
> >
> >I know, I know--you're one of the happiest people you know. And I can
> >outgrump you any day.
> >
> >Fine... you don't like genericization in this case. I don't see the
> >problem, but I'll grant you the point. Would you settle for a
> >"snowclonelet" of "the Yoda of X"? That does not solve the problem of
> >"my Yoda", but it does address this particular usage, does it not?
> >
> >     VS-)
> >
> >On 5/4/2010 1:02 PM, ronbutters at AOL.COM wrote:
> >> It is (apparently) true that the quotation that Amy cites has one of the
> legal markers of generics: it is not Capitalized. Even so, I don't think it
> is really generic, the fundamental criterion for which is that most people
> do not recognize a connection between the word and its etymogical proper
> noun. Any name can be used the way YODA is used here. Even "quixotic" is
> probably not truly generic for most people who know the word.
> >> ------Original Message------
> >> From: Dave Wilton
> >> Sender: ADS-L
> >> To: ADS-L
> >> ReplyTo: ADS-L
> >> Subject: Re: [ADS-L] yoda as a generic
> >> Sent: May 4, 2010 5:14 PM
> >>
> >> It's been around a while. From Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 3,
> "School
> >> Hard," shooting script 7/30/1997, by David Greenwalt:
> >>
> >> Spike talking to Angel: "You think you can fool me? You were my sire,
> >> man...you were my Yoda!"
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of
> >> Amy West
> >> Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 2010 7:19 AM
> >> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >> Subject: yoda as a generic
> >>
> >> (I did a quick search of the since-1999 ADS-L archive and the
> >> before-April-2008 Language Log archive before posting this: I
> >> apologize if I missed something.)
> >>
> >> I spotted this use of "yoda" as generic -- equivalent to "guru" -- in
> >> the Boston Globe yesterday:
> >>
> >> I am drawn to Prohibition, as I am to all catastrophes, so I turn to
> >> Prohibition yoda Dan Okrent for enlightenment. Okrent is author of
> >> the forthcoming book "The Last Call: the Rise and Fall of
> >> Prohibition."
> >>
> >> --Sam Allis, Boston Globe, May 3, 2010, p. 23, G section
> >>
> >>
> http://www.boston.com/ae/events/articles/2010/05/03/remembering_the_dark_day
> >> s_during_the_nations_dry_times/
> >>
> >> ---Amy West
> >>
> >
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>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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