Ben's rando, Virginia's retronyms

[Alice Faber]

On 10/31/10 10:13 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:
> At 8:28 AM -0400 10/31/10, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>> Did I mention "convo" (conversation), heard a week or so ago? "To keep
>> the
>> convo going."
>>
>> This "-o" business has been going on in Australia more than here for at
>> least fifty years.
>>
>> JL
>
> But with the pejorative flavor of the ones mentioned below? There
> may be a more general process of truncation + -o as in "convo" that I
> think is not the same as the human -o slurs involved in "rando" and
> its "wino/wacko/weirdo/pscyho"-type sponsors.

On Etsy.com, a cover site for craftspeople selling their stuff, "convo"
is standard terminology for an IM-type dialog (say, if I have a question
about an item being offered for sale). It bothered me at first, but I've
gotten used to it. I have no idea whether the usage is Etsy-specific, or
whether they got it from some other site. Also, for what it's worth,
it's headquartered in Brooklyn (NY).
--
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Alice Faber                                       faber at haskins.yale.edu
Haskins Laboratories                            tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
New Haven, CT 06511 USA                               fax (203) 865-8963

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