"Difficult Languages"

[Charles C Doyle]

In a musical context, a conductor will (transitively) "quieten" a given section of the orchestra--which means not 'silence' but rather 'reduce the volume of'.

--Charlie

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From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of W Brewer [brewerwa at GMAIL.COM]
Sent: Saturday, August 31, 2013 1:37 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
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LH:  <<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.>>
WB:  The transitive struck me as unfamiliar. I distinctly recall one
occasion years ago when I spontaneously uttered <quieten> as an
intransitive inchoative, and thought it was my innovation. Still sounds
awkward to me, but am glad to hear I was not alone. <Want you kids to
quieten down now.> Sort of hillbilly.

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