eyeball witness

[Dan Goncharoff]

I interpret the difference to mean the "eyeball witness" actually saw
the deed in question, while an "eyewitness" may have seen a suspect
coming and going, but not the deed itself.

DanG

On 5/20/2010 12:44 PM, Paul Frank wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society<ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Paul Frank<paulfrank at POST.HARVARD.EDU>
> Subject:      eyeball witness
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Is there any semantic difference between an "eyewitness" and an
> "eyeball witness," or is the difference simply one of register? I
> heard someone say "eyeball witness" in the Wire, season 2, episode 4.
> The term is not listed in the desk dictionaries I've consulted. In his
>   Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage, Bryan A.* Garner tells his readers
> to avoid it.
>
> *The A stands for anal retentive, which is a good thing for a writer
> of prescriptivist style books.
>
> Paul
>
> Paul Frank
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