infamous = 'talked-about; popular'

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Tue Feb 26 20:46:51 UTC 2013


On Feb 22, 2013, at 6:58 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> Another possible gloss, in the golf-match context, might be "amusingly
> embarrassing."
>
> BTW, does anyone *actually* use "infamous" in the officially proscribed
> sense of "famous"?  Or is this here (there, I said it) really the sort of
> usage the proscribers have in mind?
>
> JL

and then again, we can have two for the price of one:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/sports/ncaabasketball/a-fresh-five-push-michigan-into-the-ncaa-title-picture.html

About the five freshman currently playing (but not all starting, or starring) who bring "flair, a little extra cool" to the U. of Michigan's men's basketball team:

==============
They have come to be called the Fresh Five, a nod to the famous and infamous Fab Five, the college basketball stars turned cultural phenomenon of the early 1990s. The current freshmen joke about it in private. But when they arrived, they were not as heralded. They were not as brash. There were no black shoes, no black socks.
==============

The earlier U. of M. Fab Five (whose name is of course a nod to the original Fab Four across the pond) were indeed both famous and (for various forms of misbehavior, on and off the court) infamous.  But I can't remember actually seeing a conjunction of this kind before.

LH


>
> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 2:01 PM, Tom Zurinskas <truespel at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: infamous = 'talked-about; popular'
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> It appears to me that CNN has a negative bias against our president.  The
>> word "infamous" must refer to those who say it's not proper that he play on
>> a "private" golf course.  What?  And then last night CNN after showing Rand
>> Paul blaming the Prez for the sequester asks the viewers "Who do you think
>> is the blame.?"  Talk about influencing a poll.  They never mentioned
>> Repugnantcan brinkmanship.
>>
>> On a second issue, I'd like to count how many times a sportscaster says
>> "We talked about.." during a game.  It's everywhere.
>>
>>
>> Tom Zurinskas, Conn 20 yrs, Tenn 3, NJ 33, now Fl 9.
>> See how English spelling links to sounds at http://justpaste.it/ayk
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>>> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>>> Subject: Re: infamous = 'talked-about; popular'
>>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> Today CNN is saying "that highly talked-about golf match between
>> President
>>> Obama and Tiger Woods."
>>>
>>> Note my suggested def. at the top of the thread.
>>>
>>> (And the surprising - oops! I mean "eerie" - "Tiger Woods"
>> connection....)
>>>
>>> JL
>>>
>>> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 12:25 AM, W Brewer <brewerwa at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>> -----------------------
>>>> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>> Poster: W Brewer <brewerwa at GMAIL.COM>
>>>> Subject: Re: infamous = 'talked-about; popular'
>>>>
>>>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>
>>>> <<<=85and it's one small step from ringleader to mastermind.>>>
>>>> Wagnerian tunes lead to ... a board game???
>>>>
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> 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."
>>>
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>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> 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."
>
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