Non-abusive tot moms

[Laurence Horn]

At 8:12 AM -0600 6/16/11, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>But, more important, *why* do they sound cool?
>
>There's the assonance, natch.

Well, in "tot mom", if not "baby daddy" (orthograhic assonance?).
Note that what tot moms grow up to be is "soccer moms", or in the
Northeast "hockey moms", preserving the assonance if adding some
mileage along the way.

>Also, they're pithy. Too, they designate
>concepts that are either novel ("tot mom" in its original denotation) or
>clumsily paraphrased ("baby daddy").

Right--we can't even agree on the definition in that case, IIRC (is
Barack Obama technically Michelle's baby daddy or not at all?).  The
connotation is easier to figure out than the denotation.

LH

>  Finally, they're just opaque enough to
>be interesting, yet instantly comprehensible and memorable when understood.
>
>Many neo-tot moms may be less "fun" when they grow into "PTA moms."
>
>JL
>
>.
>
>On Thu, Jun 16, 2011 at 7:48 AM, 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:      Re: Non-abusive tot moms
>>
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  'Cause _tot mom_  just sounds cool.
>>
>>  Like _baby daddy_.
>>
>>  JL
>>
>>  On Wed, Jun 15, 2011 at 9:42 PM, Neal Whitman <nwhitman at ameritech.net
>>  >wrote:
>>
>>  > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  > -----------------------
>>  > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  > Poster:       Neal Whitman <nwhitman at AMERITECH.NET>
>>  > Subject:      Non-abusive tot moms
>>  >
>>  >
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  >
>>  > The creator of the "Tot Moms" blog, begun in April 2011, goes beyond the
>>  > straightforward "mother of a young child" meaning of "tot mom" to include
>>  > other characteristics that you would not guess at just based on the words
>>  > "tot" and "mom":
>>  >
>>  > "A tot mom is enthusiastic, committed, hard working, loving, fun, and
>>  most
>>  > of all, dedicated to their [sic] tots. Every mother featured has all the
>>  > qualities of a tot mom."
>>  > http://totmoms.wordpress.com/
>>  >
>>  > She seems to have no idea that opposite connotations might be creeping
>>  into
>>  > other people's conception of "tot mom" because of Casey Anthony and Nancy
>>  > Grace, as discussed here in 2008 and this year (threads at
>>  >
>>  >
>>
>>http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ADS-L;HcuHeA;200812291008240500E
>>  > and http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ADS-L;8e2f13ec.1105D
>>  ).
>>  >
>>  > Neal Whitman
>>  > Email: nwhitman at ameritech.net
>>  > Blog: http://literalminded.wordpress.com
>>  >
>>  > ------------------------------------------------------------
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>>
>>
>>
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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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