"go-to" = immediate? automatic?

[Laurence Horn]

On Jan 1, 2014, at 1:15 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> I don't think "default" works here. The point seems to be that the feelings
> are "consciously accessible," not that they're usual or expected.
>
> "Go-to guys" are guys who reliably get things done when you go to them, not
> guys you go to by default (i.e., because there's nobody else).
>
> JL

Different conceptions of "default", not of "go-to", I'd say.  A default setting on a given parameter isn't the one you select because there's nothing else (faute de mieux), but the one you go select unless it's overridden by something that takes precedence in a particular case, which is what I meant by my reference to trumping below (cf. OED II.3.b: 'a preselected option...when no alternative is specified…').  And a default isn't even necessarily the usual or expected alternative; it's been argued that the -s ending is the default (i.e. elsewhere condition) for plurals in German, even though it's relatively rare (used only in loanwords, coinages, etc.).  As for those consciously accessible bodily states--well, default is not in our stars but in ourselves.

LH
>
>
> On Wed, Jan 1, 2014 at 10:11 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: "go-to" = immediate? automatic?
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> 'default'? (i.e. they can be trumped by something more powerful in a
>> specific case but are otherwise activated)
>> I'm thinking "go-to player" in sports contexts--LeBron is Miami's go-to
>> shooter at the end of the game, Gronkowski (when he's not injured) is
>> Brady's go-to receiver in the red zone, but if they're covered, someone
>> else will be chosen to take the shot/receive the pass.
>>
>> LH
>>
>> On Jan 1, 2014, at 8:44 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>
>>>
>> http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/31/5259884/finnish-study-maps-emotions-onto-a-human-body
>>> :
>>>
>>> [T]he study says we're ill-equipped to differentiate between
>>> skeletomuscular, visceral, and nerve sensations. Our responses, the
>>> churning stomachs or hot flushes on our faces, are our go-to "consciously
>>> accessible" bodily states when we deal with an onslaught of emotions.
>>>
>>> JL
>>>
>>> --
>>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
>> truth."
>>>
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>>
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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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