pit in one's stomach

[Tom Zurinskas]

We are all prescriptivists. Even antiprescriptivists are prescribing antiprescriptivism.

Tom Zurinskas, Conn 20 yrs, Tenn 3, NJ 33, now Fl 9.
See how English spelling links to sounds at http://justpaste.it/ayk




>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: pit in one's stomach
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Have we all become prescriptivists?? Why is this somewhat new idiom an ERROR, and not just the way folks talk nowadays? So, it probably originated as a misunderstanding of some common phrases--but so did many standard expressions and lexemes!
>
> --Charlie
>
> ________________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Dan Goncharoff [thegonch at GMAIL.COM]
> Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2012 2:41 PM
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I am not blaming anyone, yet.
>
> Maybe Friedman used the phrase correctly, and an editor changed it
> incorrectly. Maybe this happened the time before, too.
>
> Maybe Friedman used the phrase incorrectly, and an editor tried to
> change it and was pushed back by the more senior Friedman.
>
> Maybe Friedman used the phrase incorrectly, and the editor didn't see
> it as an error.
>
> I would be curious to know which set of events occurred. I also think
> all the possibilities need to be kept in mind before declaring this a
> change in usage rather than a mistake.
>
> DanG
>
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 8, 2012 at 1:18 PM, Ben Zimmer
> <bgzimmer at babel.ling.upenn.edu> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster: Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
> > Subject: Re: pit in one's stomach
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > On Wed, Feb 8, 2012 at 12:08 PM, Dan Goncharoff wrote:
> >>
> >> My question is whether the error was Friedman's or an editor's, and,
> >> if Friedman's, why didn't an editor catch it.
> >
> > Let's not blame an editor for this. As it happens, Friedman's used the
> > expression before (I forgot Mark Liberman posted about it on Language
> > Log last year):
> >
> > http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3157
> >
> >
> >> On Wed, Feb 8, 2012 at 11:48 AM, Ben Zimmer wrote:
> >> >
> >> > Thomas Friedman in today's Times:
> >> >
> >> > ---
> >> > http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/opinion/friedman-freedom-at-4-below.html
> >> > To observe the democratic awakenings happening in places like Egypt,
> >> > Syria and Russia is to travel with a glow in your heart and a pit in
> >> > your stomach.
> >> > [...]
> >> > But that pit in the stomach comes from knowing that while the protests
> >> > are propelled by deep aspirations for dignity, justice and
> >> > self-determination, such heroic emotions have to compete with other
> >> > less noble impulses and embedded interests in these societies.
> >> > ---
> >> >
> >> > A commenter cites Paul Brians' _Common Errors in English Usage_
> >> >
> >> > ---
> >> > http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/pit.html
> >> > Just as you can love someone from the bottom of your heart, you can
> >> > also experience a sensation of dread in the pit (bottom) of your
> >> > stomach. I don’t know whether people who mangle this common expression
> >> > into “pit in my stomach” envision an ulcer, an irritating peach pit
> >> > they’ve swallowed or are thinking of the pyloric sphincter; but
> >> > they’ve got it wrong.
> >> > ---
> >> >
> >> > Jan Freeman wrote about it in a 2008 Globe column, noting the shift
> >> > from "a feeling in the pit of your stomach" to "a pit (you feel) in
> >> > your stomach":
> >> >
> >> > http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/04/27/gut_check/
> >> >
> >> > I'm reminded a bit of the idiom blend "eat at your craw," combining
> >> > "eat at you" and "stick in your craw":
> >> >
> >> > http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind1104C&L=ADS-L&P=R10765
> >> >
> >> > Neither pits nor craws are easy to place these days.
> >> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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