Not a teddy bear

[Jesse Sheidlower]

I've been asking around, and even collected a few Twitter
responses, and: it's all over the place. Some people agree
with me that it only refers to the classic brown
gingerbread-man-shape bear, others think it can be any stuffed
toy bear, regardless of shape, texture, color, etc.

There doesn't seem to be any obvious correlation to age,
location, etc.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

On Mon, Sep 13, 2010 at 09:15:37AM -0400, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> This resembles the putative distinction between a pail and bucket.
> I'm with Barbara. However, the stiffer sort of bear is for me the norm.  Not
> that I've ever thought of this question before, I'd unhestitatingly refer to
> a child's mushy, plushy bear as a "teddy bear," but would probably think,
> "They don't make 'em like they used to."
>
> Note to semanticists: the same goes for an adult's stuffed bear.
>
>
> JL
> On Mon, Sep 13, 2010 at 8:26 AM, Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Not a teddy bear
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > To me, a teddy bear is relatively stiff, with arms
> > outstretched, and having darkish brown fur. If it is a very
> > soft plush bear, like a Gund, I would consider it a stuffed
> > bear, but not a teddy bear.
> >
> > Jesse Sheidlower
> > OED
> >
> > On Mon, Sep 13, 2010 at 07:18:58AM -0400, Barbara Need wrote:
> > > Can you elaborate? Clearly I have a fairly broad understanding of what
> > > fits in the category of teddy bear!
> > >
> > > Barbara
> > >
> > > On 13 Sep 2010, at 6:49 AM, Jesse Sheidlower wrote:
> > >
> > >> On Mon, Sep 13, 2010 at 06:42:52AM -0400, Barbara Need wrote:
> > >>> From a Freecycle posting for stuffed animals:
> > >>>
> > >>> "small brown bear (not a teddy bear, a plush bear)"
> > >>>
> > >>> What is a stuffed bear if not a teddy bear?
> > >>
> > >> A teddy bear is a pretty specific kind of stuffed bear, in my
> > >> idiolect at least. A soft, floppy, plush bear would not be a
> > >> teddy bear to me.
> > >>
> > >> Jesse Sheidlower
> > >> OED
> > >
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> >
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> >
>
>
>
> --
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