fodder

[Tom Zurinskas]

That's fodder for thought; Which seems a little less compelling than "food for thought".


Tom Zurinskas, first Ct 20 yrs, then Tn 3, NJ 33, Fl 9.
Learn the alphabet and sounds of US English at justpaste.it/ayk




>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Ben Zimmer
> Subject: Re: fodder
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Mon, May 23, 2011 at 7:09 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >
> > On Sun, May 22, 2011 at 9:19 PM, Ben Zimmer wrote:
> >
> > > > On May 22, 2011, at 5:25 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > > > > http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/149845/20110522/camping-doomsday-rapture.htm
> > > > > Indeed, discussions about May 21, 2011 being the "end of the world" were
> > > > > met with worldwide fodder -- a bonanza for American late-night television
> > > > > comedians.
> > > >
> > > I presume the (linguistic) point here is the rather bizarre use of
> > > "fodder" to mean... I'm not sure, exactly. My best guess is that this
> > > is the result of poor editing -- the "end of the world" discussions
> > > could be fodder for the comedians (as well as a bonanza), but another
> > > word is needed after "worldwide" -- "derision" or "mirth" or some
> > > such.
> >
> > "Met with worldwide [X] fodder" doesn't make sense either.
> >
> > The prophecy itself was the "[X] fodder."
>
> Yes, that's what I meant. A word other than "fodder" is needed after
> "worldwide", while "fodder" only makes sense in the slot currently
> held by "bonanza". Which suggests editorial sloppiness rather than
> semantic shift.
>
> --bgz
>
> --
> Ben Zimmer
> http://benzimmer.com/
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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