millionaire (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Dave Wilton]

Both of those bring with them connotations that are not present with
"millionaire."

A "tycoon" is a dominant figure in a particular industry.

A "playboy" leads a dissolute lifestyle.

Both are associated with wealth, but wealth in and of itself is not the
defining characteristic of a tycoon or a playboy.


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Jonathan Lighter
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 7:44 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: millionaire (UNCLASSIFIED)

I think the underlying difficulty is primarily that "persons who make at
least a million dollars a year" takes too long to write or say.
"Millionaire" is shorter.  "Tycoon" is shorter still, but its associations
with great wealth, economic power, and conspicuous consumption may make it
seem a bit slanted.  It may sound slightly dated as well - like "playboy."

JL

On Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 7:31 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: millionaire (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---------
>
> At 4/17/2012 03:22 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC wrote:
> >Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> >Caveats: NONE
> >
> >This document:
> >
> >http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/09in05tr.xls
> >
> >is only current through 2009, but seems to say that the floor of
> >income for the top 1% was $343k in that year.
>
> So the term we want is "multi-thousandaire".
>
> Joel
>
>
>
>
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> >Behalf Of
> > > Joel S. Berson
> > > Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 11:25 AM
> > > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > > Subject: Re: millionaire (UNCLASSIFIED)
> > >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >----------------------
> > > -
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > > Subject:      Re: millionaire (UNCLASSIFIED)
> > >
> >---------------------------------------------------------------------
> >---
> >------
> > > -
> > >
> > > At 4/17/2012 11:16 AM, Baker, John wrote:
> > > >The one percent refers to the affluent segment of society generally.
> > >
> > > We ought to be able to say from the statistics what yearly income
> > > is the threshold for the 99th percentile.  For the most recent
> > > year for which the data are available.
> > >
> > > Joel
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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> >
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> >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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