pristine = 'faultless; perfectly executed'

[Joel S. Berson]

At 9/2/2011 08:15 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>Good cites, Garson.

However, for somersaults executed by members of
the Peking Opera (1980) I can take "pristine" as
"unspoilt by human interference, untouched; pure"
-- having seen somersaults performed by Chinese acrobatic troupes.

Joel


>JL
>
>On Thu, Sep 1, 2011 at 11:02 PM, Garson O'Toole
><adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: pristine = 'faultless; perfectly executed'
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Perhaps the part of the conventional definition associated with "pure"
> > and "unspoiled" has facilitated a shift to "faultless" "perfect" and
> > "beautiful". I think I may have heard pristine used with this sense
> > for decades.
> >
> > 1980 August 15, Peking Opera
> > The Christian Science Monitor [Boston, Mass], Page 19.
> > Author: Nancy Goldner (ProQuest)
> >
> > We've all seen somersaults, but you haven't seen elegant ones till
> > you've seen the Chinese. The force and clarity and speed of their
> > maneuvers are something to behold. In its pristine execution, and in
> > the almost austere conception of its choreography, the acrobatics
> > become the Peking Opera's most eloquent form of expression.
> >
> >
> > 1985 May 6, Sockers do a number on Strikers
> > Evening Tribune (San Diego, CA) -
> > Author: Rick Davis, Tribune Sportswriter (NewsBank)
> >
> > EXCEPT for the fan interest -- which team majority owner Bob Bell says
> > he is beginning to wonder about after a gathering of 8,494 showed up
> > at the Sports Arena -- it was an occasion when everything seemed to go
> > right for the Sockers. For those who like efficiency and pristine
> > execution, check out some of the numbers from last night's MISL
> > semifinal series opener against the Minnesota Strikers.
> > The final score, 8-1 in favor of San Diego, was the club's most
> > lopsided playoff victory since shutting out Baltimore 7-0 in Game 2 of
> > a MISL championship series two years ago.
> >
> >
> > The Encyclopedia of Greeting Card Tools & Techniques - Page 232
> > books.google.com
> > Susan Pickering Rothamel - 2008 - 304 pages - Preview
> >
> > Too many folks get hung up on exact, pristine execution, and we forget
> > that art, like life, is a messy, sloppy, gooey infusion of enthusiasm
> > and creativity. The idea behind spritzing uses these 'tactually
> > interactive vulcanized tools ...
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Sep 1, 2011 at 9:38 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject:      Re: pristine = 'faultless; perfectly executed'
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > On Thu, Sep 1, 2011 at 9:21 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> > >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > >> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > >> Poster: Â  Â  Â  Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > >> Subject: Â  Â  Â pristine = 'faultless; perfectly executed'
> > >>
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >>
> > >> 2011 Louis P. Masur _The Civil War: A Concise History_ (N.Y.: OUP) 38:
> > But
> > >> there is so much in war that no on can control....Only [Stonewall]
> > Jackson's
> > >> campaign [in the Shenandoah Valley] seemed pristine, a model of a
> > general in
> > >> perfect command, executed with bravado.
> > >>
> > >> JL
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > truth."
> > >>
> > >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> > >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >>
> > >
> > > Jon, you're going to have a nervous breakdown!
> > >
> > > Or, I am.;-)
> > >
> > > --
> > > -Wilson
> > > -----
> > > All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
> > > to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> > > -Mark Twain
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
>--
>"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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