childfree
Jonathan Lighter
wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Fri Jan 31 11:59:15 UTC 2014
I thought of that, Larry, but then I realized somebody would have to know
history and some weird foreign language for it to resonate.
"Germ-free," "fat-free," and gluten-free" (not to mention "carefree") do
the job in English.
JL
On Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 7:43 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:
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> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject: Re: childfree
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Jan 30, 2014, at 7:17 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
> > The Wackipedia article on CNN anchor Carol Costello remark (under
> "Personal
> > Life") that "Costello is childfree." Period.
> >
> > The word was featured on the cover of Time last summer, though there it
> > modified "life" rather than a named person.
> >
> > In Wacki it means "having and wanting no children." Contrast
> "childless."
> >
> > Fair enough, but the suffix "-free" in this case seems a little creepy.
> As
> > though to gloat, "Thank God I don't have any of those little brats!" (Cf.
> > "germ-free.")
> >
> Or "Judenfrei".
>
> LH
>
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