odd use of "newbie" (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Dan Goncharoff]

I surmise the second quote should have started "Spinning number plate
is a must ...".We are talking Bond after all.
DanG



On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 4:00 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: odd use of "newbie" (UNCLASSIFIED)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Feb 13, 2012, at 2:04 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC wrote:
>
>> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
>> Caveats: NONE
>>
>> Bill James, making the case for Dwight Evans in the baseball HOF:
>>
>> "If I didn't follow those steps, the people who have read my stuff over
>> the years would know immediately that I wasn't playing by the rules, and
>> they would tear me a newbie over it right away."
>>
>> http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7555836/an-open-letter-mlb-hall-fame
>> -dwight-evans-rightful-place-cooperstown
>>
>> If he had written "new asshole" instead of "newbie", it would have made
>> perfect sense to me.
>
> I've certainly heard "tear [someone] a new one" to avoid specifiying what sort of one was being torn a new.  And, well, a "newbie" is a "new one".  Perhaps "new one" is the bridge from "new asshole" to "newbie".
>
> Every Google hit on "tear me a newbie" references the Bill James piece on Dewey, and there are none at all for "tear you/her a newbie", but two for "tear him a newbie", although the first incorporates an interesting sort of priming and the latter is written in a dialect other than any I'm familiar with:
>
> ================
> Every newbie and their dog ask that friggen question, as they miss the point entirely (ie. think that there is an answer). The regulars will tear you a newbie!!!
>
> Spinning numberlate is a must, have normal plate, alt plate, a "Hey babe" type plate (we are talking Bond after all) and a "get off my ass before I tear you a newbie".
> ================
>
> LH
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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