operatic

[Dan Goncharoff]

What about enthusiasts of soap operas?

DanG


On Mon, Mar 18, 2013 at 7:57 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: operatic
>
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>
> Yeah, but enthusiasts of melodrama are probably disgruntled too.
>
> Seriously, though, to call something "melodramatic" generally implies
> condescension or disdain. A more  neutral term is sometimes needed.
>
> But what?  Hmmmm. Melodramas have a stage, people, and music. So do operas!
> So the word is "operatic." It's too new to have negative connotations, and,
> as a bonus, it's new enough to provide that hint of breezy authority.
>
> Like "immersive."
>
>
> JL
>
> On Mon, Mar 18, 2013 at 2:34 AM, Benjamin Torbert <btorbert at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Benjamin Torbert <btorbert at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: operatic
> >
> >
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> >
> > As an opera enthusiast, I find this usage kind of stupid.
> >
> > BT
> >
> > On Sun, Mar 17, 2013 at 8:47 AM, Jonathan Lighter <
> wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> > >wrote:
> >
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> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject:      operatic
> > >
> > >
> >
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> > >
> > > I.e., "melodramatic."  OED's def. doesn't quite do it.  I've been
> > familiar
> > > with this nuance for probably a decade.
> > >
> > > 2012
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://www.salon.com/2012/12/14/pick_of_the_week_kathryn_bigelows_mesmerizi=
> > > ng_post_911_nightmare/
> > > : Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal's mesmerizing, operatic and profoundly
> > > troubling =93Zero Dark Thirty."
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > > --=20
> > > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > truth."
> > >
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> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
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