odd use of "newbie" (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Laurence Horn]

On Feb 13, 2012, at 4:47 PM, Dan Goncharoff wrote:

> I surmise the second quote should have started "Spinning number plate
> is a must ...".We are talking Bond after all.
> DanG
>
>
I'll take your word for it.  I'm a newbie in these parts myself.

LH
>
> 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
>>
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>
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