Keyser-Soeze Phenomenon

[Dan Goncharoff]

Can you identify a common example?
DanG

On Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 6:39 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Keyser-Soeze Phenomenon
>
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>
> In my day, it was recommended that compounds used attributively be
> hyphenated for quicker comprehension.
>
> Just where I read this escapes me, and I may be the only one who still does
> it. Or ever did it.
>
> JL
>
> On Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 6:28 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Keyser-Soeze Phenomenon
> >
> >
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> >
> > "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world that
> he
> > didn't exist."
> >
> > Why the hyphen in "Keyser-Soeze"? It is a first and last name. Roger
> Ebert
> > supposedly used the term "Keyser Soeze syndrome" to refer to "...a lot of
> > recent films [that] seem unsatisfied unless they can add final scenes
> that
> > redefine the reality of everything that has gone before."
> >
> > DanG
> >
> > On Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 5:09 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> > >wrote:
> >
> >  > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject:      Keyser-Soeze Phenomenon
> > >
> > >
> >
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> > >
> > > A former prosecutor on Tru TV describes tot-mom Casey Anthony as
> > exhibiting
> > > "what I call the Keyser-Soeze Phenomenon."
> > >
> > > KS is a central but off-screen character in _The Usual Suspects_
> (1995).
> > > IIRC, everybody describes him inconsistently.
> > > What's Keyser really like? Who knows! All we know is that it's vitally
> > > important.
> > >
> > > The allusion is to CA's seemingly preternatural ability to change her
> > story
> > > about what happened to her daughter at the drop of a hat and without a
> > > blink, while incorporating any details that the detectives happened to
> > > present her with.  The impression is that almost everything she says is
> a
> > > lie, but she really really expects you to believe it.
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > > --
> > > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > truth."
> > >
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>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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