original = 'most notable'

[Jonathan Lighter]

OED's entry on "original" needs work at def. 2b: "(of a person): that is so
by birth or nature born." A note adds, "Originally with allusion to the
idea of original sin; later in extended use."

"Extended use" is something of an understatement. CNN has just described
the late Larry Hagman (not his character the evil JR) as "TV's original bad
boy."

There's a clear break between OED's 1724-1890 exx. and those from 1966 and
1993. The earlier exx. are construed with "an" rather than "the," and
indeed they seem to imply a congenital condition.  The modern exx. do not.

E.g., Defoe, 1720: "I...was...an original Thief, and a Pyrate,...by
Inclination."

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

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