"Difficult Languages"

[Laurence Horn]

On Aug 30, 2013, at 8:54 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:

> The last sentence of this article contains the verb, "quieten." I'm rolling
> downhill toward eighty, yet, this the first time that I've ever encountered
> this word.
>
> Youneverknow.
>
>

I've heard it a bunch, but (almost?) always in the context of "____ down" and not in the sense of 'snuff out, extinguish' as here.

LH


> On Fri, Aug 30, 2013 at 7:16 AM, David A. Daniel <dad at pokerwiz.com> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       "David A. Daniel" <dad at POKERWIZ.COM>
>> Subject:      "Difficult Languages"
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> I just stumbled on this article and found it interesting. Probably old hat
>> to y'all, but here it is.
>> http://www.economist.com/node/15108609
>> DAD
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>
> --
> -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
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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