"way overpay" as a unit

[Joel S. Berson]

In "to way overpay", isn't "way" simply an adverb within an
infinitive verb "to overpay"?  I don't see it as much different from
or more than a little less ordinary than "(I decided) to greatly
overpay (him)".

Joel

At 6/3/2011 09:17 PM, ronbutters at AOL.COM wrote:
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>
>Well, "way overpay" seems at worst to be nothing more complicated
>than a back formation from the past-participle form "way overpaid."
>(And an ADJ form, not ADV.) However, it is productive in the sense
>of 'far too greatly": there is, for example, "way overrepresent," as
>well as "way overanalyze."
>
>Sent from my iPad
>
>On Jun 3, 2011, at 5:50 PM, victor steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
> > This is another usage flag that appears to be quite common, but
> still grates
> > on my ears. I have no problem with "way ADV". Perhaps there are
> instances of
> > "way V" that work--I can't think of any, at the moment, but they might
> > exist". But "to way overpay" just seems wrong...
> >
> > With the Globe's business having stabilized and the Times Co.'s debt burden
> >> eased, Edmonds writes, "It looks to me like a keeper for the
> company--unless
> >> someone comes forward with cash and is prepared to way overpay."
> >
> > http://www.dankennedy.net/
> >
> > VS-)
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org