Quote: Frank Sinatra denounces rock n roll in 1957

[Jonathan Lighter]

Everybody knew "goon."

The number who recognized "cretinous" was probably somewhat higher than
today. IMO.

JL

On Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 12:58 AM, Garson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Quote: Frank Sinatra denounces rock n roll in 1957
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Point of clarification: I do assume that list members already
> understood the term "cretinous goons".
>
> The excerpt shows that the article author or newspaper editor thought
> that his readers might not understand the term "cretinous goons". This
> is a single datum of evidence about the level of reader sophistication
> assumed by newswire writers/editors in 1957.
>
> On Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 12:39 AM, Garson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Quote: Frank Sinatra denounces rock n roll in 1957
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Wilson Gray wrote about SInatra's critique of rock:
> >>
> >> Once upon a time, a person with "only" a high-school diploma also had
> >> an education, as Mr. Sinatra's remarks clearly indicate.;-)
> >
> > The vocabulary is interesting. The article from INS news service
> > detailing the Elvis response included the following prefatory comment
> > explaining one Sinatra's words. Of course, the Sinatra article may
> > have been ghost-written.
> >
> > Cite: 1957 October 30, Augusta Chronicle, "Frankie rags Rock 'n' Roll;
> > Presley's sideburns bristle" [INS News Service: Dateline Hollywood],
> > Page 1A, Column 5 and 6, Augusta, Georgia. (GenealogyBank)
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> >
> > Elvis Presley's ample sideburns bristled today in defense of his Rock
> > 'n' Roll cult against a blast from Frank Sinatra.
> >
> > Sinatra, in a Paris magazine article, said rock 'n' rollers were
> > "cretinous goons" - in the class of idiots, according to Webster.
> >
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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