The new (old?) "specialize

[George Thompson]

This reminds me of a panel truck I saw in NYC a few years ago.  It belonged to a builder, and stated on the side that he specialized in every imaginable sort of structure, which he listed, from outhouses and chicken-coops to skyscrapers and masoleums -- actually, I'm not quoting exactly -- but my reaction was, that this guy is claiming to specialize in everything, which means that he specializes in nothing.

And if it had been a ten-wheel van instead of a four-wheeler, he would have had the room to include chicken-coops and masoleums.

GAT

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.  Working on a new edition, though.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
Date: Thursday, April 21, 2011 5:32 pm
Subject: Re: The new (old?) "specialize
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU

> Was I too subtle?  My local place *specializes* in *all* cars
> (foreign + domestic = all).
>
> Joel
>
> At 4/21/2011 05:15 PM, victor steinbok wrote:
> >Very old. I remember Alewife Foreign Auto "specializing" in German cars
> >since before 1983. Auto-part stores "specializing in hard-to-get
> parts". The
> >same applies to just about everything. Not sure HOW old, but it's
> OLD. In
> >fact, that's how the Specialized brand of bikes and bike parts (parts
> came
> >first, before they started making mountain bikes) came about.
> >
> >VS-)
> >
> >On Thu, Apr 21, 2011 at 3:04 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > > Subject:      The new (old?) "specialize
> > >
> > >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > I assume old hat, but it only just today engaged my brain -- a local
> > > service station advertises itself "Antoine's Auto Service / We
> > > specialize in foreign and domestic cars".
> > >
> > > (Like humans, all the world id divided into two kinds of automobiles.)
> > >
> > > Joel
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
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> > >
> >
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