"temporal"?

[Jonathan Lighter]

Unlike James, I have no idea what it means. Of course, I can take a stab at
it from the context, and he may know more about the show than I do, which is
nothing.

My first guess was that it meant "timely," i.e. "of topical interest," but
evidently that's wrong.

That use of "topical," btw, is also weird, when you get right down to it.

JL

On Tue, Sep 13, 2011 at 1:57 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: "temporal"?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I'm no expert, but I think this is just another example of the
> inadequate vocabulary for time in the English language.
>
> The common words are too imprecise (eg, 'Now' can mean this second,
> within the hour, or in the current zeitgeist), and precise language is
> disliked stylistically and, as in the current case, not understood by
> intelligent readers.
>
> To me, 'temporal' is a fine word, but only because I understand it,
> and I appreciate it is so uncommon that comprehension cannot be
> expected.
>
> DanG
>
>
>
> On Tue, Sep 13, 2011 at 12:55 PM, Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at stanford.edu>
> wrote:
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at STANFORD.EDU>
> > Subject:      "temporal"?
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Alessandra Stanley on the tv series "Entourage", in the Arts section of
> the NYT on September 12:
> >
> >  Some fans complained that "Entourage" grew stale, but actually it's
> remarkable how fresh the series managed to stay given how temporal its
> setting.
> >
> > (this is from the hard copy; it's the same on-line, i now see.)
> >
> > is this a malaprop (of some kind) for "contemporary"?  or is there a
> current sense of "temporal" here i'm not aware of?
> >
> > OED2 has
> >
> >  6. In general sense: Of, pertaining, or relating to time, the present
> time, or a particular time. [with the most recent cite in 1906]
> >
> > which would embrace (under "the present time") Stanley's use, but it
> still seems odd to me.
> >
> > arnold
> >
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