Not a teddy bear

[Alison Murie]

On Sep 13, 2010, at 12:24 PM, Jesse Sheidlower wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Not a teddy bear
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>
> 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
>>>>>
What was the style of bear in Teddy Roosevelt's time that first
acquired the name?
AM

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