"Moby sex"?

[Jonathan Lighter]

I think they had "lots of" sex, not "big" sex.

"Big sale" and "big scandal" are idiomatic to me, but "big sex" is not.

Cf. the increasing tendency to confuse "amount" with "number":  "There was
a huge amount of people having sex."

JL


On Mon, Oct 28, 2013 at 11:10 PM, Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Baker, John" <JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "Moby sex"?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> If a distinction is required, then I believe Jon is right:  the writer
> meant "impressive" or "astonishing" sex.  In context, however, considering
> that the writer is talking about amazingly good group sex, I don't believe
> there's much distinction between the "astonishing sex" meaning and "big
> sex."
>
>
> John Baker
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Monday, October 28, 2013 3:29 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: "Moby sex"?
>
> The rarely consulted HDAS II offers exx. of _moby_ 'huge' going back to the
> Moby Grape days of the '60s.
>
> Am not sure, though, that "moby sex" means "big sex." Astonishing sex
> perhaps?
>
> JL
>
>
> On Mon, Oct 28, 2013 at 2:34 PM, Dan Goodman <dsgood at iphouse.com> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Dan Goodman <dsgood at IPHOUSE.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: "Moby sex"?
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > On 10/27/2013 07:32 PM, Baker, John wrote:
> > >
> > > From the Jargon File, http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/M/moby.html,
> > > definitions 1 and 5 of "moby" appear relevant:
> > >
> > >
> > > moby: /moh bee/ [MIT: seems to have been in use among model railroad
> > > fans years ago. Derived from Melville's Moby Dick (some say from
> > > 'Moby Pickle'). Now common.]
> > >
> > > 1. adj. Large, immense, complex, impressive. "A Saturn V rocket is a
> > > truly moby frob." "Some MIT undergrads pulled off a moby hack at the
> > > Harvard-Yale game." (See Appendix A for discussion.)
> > >
> > > . . . .
> > >
> > > 5. The largest available unit of something which is available in
> > > discrete increments. Thus, ordering a "moby Coke" at the local
> > > fast-food joint is not just a request for a large Coke, it's an
> > > explicit request for the largest size they sell.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Surprisingly, not in Urban Dictionary, which suggests that this
> > > meaning has largely passed out of use.
> >
> > Much thanks!
> >
> > --
> > Dan Goodman
> > Whatever you wish for me, may you have twice as much.
> > http://dsgoodman.blogspot.com
> >
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