protest = 'demonstrate in public to draw attention to'

[Charles C Doyle]

Hasn't the elliptical "Vietnam" now become pretty widely lexified in the sense of 'Vietnam war' or 'time of the Vietnam war' (as in "post-Vietnam," "Vietnam veteran," "Vietnam syndrome," etc.)?  The OED seems to lack an entry for "Vietnam" in any sense or usage.

Charlie

________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Laurence Horn [laurence.horn at YALE.EDU]
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2012 11:07 PM

Speaking of protestors, but on the other side of the issue, I remember when it was fairly standard to refer to those of us who opposed the war (sorry, conflict) in Vietnam as "anti-Vietnam demonstrators" rather than "anti-Vietnam War demonstrators".  We used to say (without noticeable effect) that we were *pro*-Vietnam, just against the war.

LH

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