Shifting usage: "Who quoted this?"

[Laurence Horn]

Well, he said it first in Yiddish ("A shprakh iz a diyalekt mit an armey un a flot"), and then self-quoted in English.  Sort of like a verbal selfie.

LH



On Mar 27, 2014, at 10:46 PM, Neal Whitman wrote:

> Wasn't familiar with this usage, but just saw this today:
>
> As Yiddish linguist Max Weinreich famously quoted, “A language is a dialect with an army and a navy.”
> http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2014/03/15/the-long-war-over-ukrainian-language/HXlLbK9wVnhwGShNVPKIUP/story.html?camp=id
>
> Neal
>
>> On Mar 27, 2014, at 4:18 PM, "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET> wrote:
>>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>> Subject:      Re: Shifting usage: "Who quoted this?"
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Now if they'd said "who quothed this?", all would be
>> okey-dokey.  [Yes, I know the past tense of "queath" is "quoth", but
>> as all things tend toward regularity ...]
>>
>> At 3/27/2014 03:20 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole wrote:
>>> A couple years ago I came across websites with questions of the form
>>> "Who quoted this?" I believe the queries were asking for the name of
>>> the person who originated a particular quotation.
>>>
>>> I apologize if this has already been discussed ad nauseam
>>>
>>> Merriam Webster has:
>>> quote (verb)
>>> 1. to repeat (a passage, phrase, etc.) from a book, speech, or the
>>> like, as by way of authority, illustration, etc.
>>>
>>> So the meaning of the verb has shifted for some speakers. Here are
>>> two examples.
>>>
>>> https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120426210420AAu5k9Z
>>>
>>> [Begin excerpt]
>>> Do you know who quoted this?
>>> who quoted:
>>> "family is not about blood it's about who is willing to hold your hand
>>> when you need it the most"
>>> Update 1: other than me obviously Looney, you know what i meant :p
>>> [End excerpt]
>>>
>>> One response:
>>> [Begin excerpt]
>>> You just quoted it.
>>> [End excerpt]
>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?32643-Who-quoted-it
>>>
>>> 11-29-2011, 07:37 PM #1
>>> Bruce M (offline Senior Member)
>>> Join Date  Dec 2008
>>> Location Chesapeake VA
>>> Subject: Who quoted it?
>>>
>>> [Begin excerpt]
>>>   Im a big fan of good quotes and I just remembered this stupid game
>>> we played in school where someone would tell a quote and we had to
>>> guess who quoted it. I'll start.
>>>   "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments
>>> of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge
>>> and controversy"
>>>
>>>   EZ one, I know, but its one of my favorites.
>>> [End excerpt]
>>>
>>> Garson
>>>
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>>
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>
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