"ground zero" = ?

[Jonathan Lighter]

> "the central point in an area of fast change or intense activity."

Pretty much what I was afraid of.

Or perhaps "a dramatic focal point."

Well, I suppose the original Ground Zero fit that description, didn't it?

JL

On Tue, Mar 5, 2013 at 7:06 PM, Nathaniel Sharpe <nts at bethlehembooks.com>wrote:

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> Poster:       Nathaniel Sharpe <nts at BETHLEHEMBOOKS.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "ground zero" = ?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> In the years following the Columbine shootings, "ground zero for gun
> control" was a common phrase, appearing frequently in connection with
> the state of Colorado.  The intended sense of "ground zero" seems to be
> "the central point in an area of fast change or intense activity."
>
> March 01, 2000 FreeColorado.com
> Originally, the Million Mom March was supposed to take place in
> Washington, D.C. Now, it looks like they may focus on Denver. As The
> Rocky Mountain News reports (March 1):
>
>      [T]he local chapter announced this week that its efforts are now
> focused on a Denver march.
>
>      "Colorado has become ground zero," said state coordinator Kathleen
> Hopkins. "If we send 14 people to national instead of 14,000 that's
> fine. We need 75,000 here."
> http://www.freecolorado.com/1999/01/shorts.html
>
> March 07, 2000 - LA Times
> To many in Colorado--viewed by some groups around the nation as the
> current Ground Zero for gun control issues--the shared stage was a
> hopeful sign that in the wake of last April's Columbine High School
> shootings the issue of gun violence would be seriously addressed.
> http://articles.latimes.com/2000/mar/07/news/mn-6272
>
> May 15, 2000 New York Times
> "You may have heard that Colorado is ground zero in the gun debate," Mr.
> Mauser declared. "You bet it is. And we're going to show the rest of the
> nation how you respond to it."
> http://partners.nytimes.com/library/national/051500moms-guns.html
>
>
> On 3/5/2013 7:38 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society<ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter<wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      "ground zero" = ?
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >  From Yahoo! News. The meaning, please:
> > "Background checks may be ground zero for gun control.
> > "An expanded background check system may be the one major gun control
> measure
> > with a chance of passing through Congress, but its fate seems tenuous at
> > best."
> >
> > JL
> >
> > "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
>
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