"The perp was described as an Indian."

[Baker, John]

The "Middle East" (i.e., the area between the Near East and the Far East) in the past was often considered to include India; the OED has a quotation as recent as 1988 that takes that position.  Maybe the sheriff had an old-fashioned education.


John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Wilson Gray
Sent: Sunday, June 10, 2012 10:45 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: "The perp was described as an Indian."

"A Middle-East Indian."


Well, the speaker - the local sheriff in Corvallis, OR - does communicate his meaning successfully. We know that the perp wasn't a Native-American "Indian."

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