reductionism gone wild

[Jonathan Lighter]

> But, *could* you?

Of course not.  It's a travesty!

I wonder what most viewers assume about the interlocutor who called that
farmer "Earthling."

J:

On Wed, Jul 4, 2012 at 1:50 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: reductionism gone wild
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Wed, Jul 4, 2012 at 8:36 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > I should calm down.
>
> But, *could* you? It really pains me to see some ignoramus being able
> to make a living better than mine by merely skimming the EB and then
> half-assing it. The fact that he's able to do it because other,
> supposedly-learned people know even less merely increases the pain.
> *I* know better and I have an IQ of only 80.
>
> That these people are entirely sincere, with no intention whatsoever
> of confidencing anyone, is the worst aspect of it.
>
> But, in a country in which 100 million speakers are immediately
> persuaded that a single instance of a mispronunciation meant as a joke
> is the correct pronunciation of a word, what can you do?
>
>  --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
> to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
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