Beta

Benjamin Barrett gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM
Fri Jan 20 19:24:04 UTC 2012


Quickly checking on Google, I found beta with eater, drinker and taster.

"Beta cook" is also found, used as opposed to "alpha cook" like "beta male." BB

On Jan 20, 2012, at 10:57 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:

> There was also "beta male", as applied to Al Gore during the 2000 =
> campaign, but that was different (although, unlike _beta_ in "beta =
> blocker", another adjectival use).
>
> LH
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>> From: Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
>> Date: January 20, 2012 12:42:30 PM EST
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: Beta
>> Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> =20
>> The OED has draft additions for beta tester and beta customer, but =
> today I encountered beta reader, which even has an article on Wikipedia =
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_reader).
>> =20
>> If this use of beta hasn't spread to other uses, this meaning is =
> transparent enough to do so. Perhaps an adjective meaning is called for.
>> =20
>> Benjamin Barrett
>> Seattle, WA

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



More information about the Ads-l mailing list