[Ads-l] "ultracrepidate" and "anti-ultracrepidationism" & the OED

[Dan Goncharoff]

Why not? The original phrase talked about not going "above the sandal"
(supra = above), but the better sense is to not go beyond one's area of
expertise (ultra = beyond).

DanG

On Sun, Mar 1, 2015 at 7:54 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "ultracrepidate" and "anti-ultracrepidationism" & the OED
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Why has _ultra_ replaced _supra_?
>
> On Sat, Feb 28, 2015 at 9:55 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: "ultracrepidate" and "anti-ultracrepidationism" & the
> OED
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > > On Feb 28, 2015, at 3:18 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM> =
> > wrote:
> > >=20
> > > I wonder ... Did Mary Norris reinvent "ultracrepidate" and the =
> > associated
> > > noun form? There was no Latin word "crepidare". The more common =
> > adjectival
> > > form is "ultracrepidarian". It comes from the saying ne supra crepidam
> > > sutor judicare =E2=80=98let the cobbler not judge above the
> sandal=E2=80=
> > =99, or in
> > > Brooklynese, mind your own business.
> >
> > An early version of recusing yourself from whatever you deem to be above
> =
> > your pay grade? (And those sandals are nice and low.)
> >
> > LH
> >
> > >=20
> > > This is the second question I have about this fabulous piece of =
> > writing.
> > > On Feb 28, 2015 2:40 PM, "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> > >=20
> > >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > >> -----------------------
> > >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > >> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > >> Subject:      "ultracrepidate" and "anti-ultracrepidationism" & the =
> > OED
> > >>=20
> > >> =
> >
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> > -----
> > >>=20
> > >> There is a fancy word for "going beyond your province":
> > >> "ultracrepidate." So much of copy editing is about not going beyond
> > >> your province. Anti-ultracrepidationism. Writers might think we're
> > >> applying rules and sticking it to their prose in order to make it fit
> > >> some standard, but just as often we're backing off, making
> > >> exceptions, or at least trying to find a balance between doing too
> > >> much and doing too little.
> > >>=20
> > >> 2015 Mary Norris in The New Yorker Feb 23; see
> > >> =
> >
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttp-3A__www.newyorker.com_ma=
> >
> gazine_2015_02_23_holy-2Dwrit&d=3DAwIFaQ&c=3D-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=3DwF=
> >
> p3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3DjEQ2hc1UwEMwKP_xAlIl7wKi7hIY=
> > ravOTwV4EwNdTHg&s=3DGoJZHGugVt-ddwqF2JXveMimYptl57OhL4Ix5yuUVtM&e=3D=20
> > >>=20
> > >> "ultracrepidate" postdates OED2  --1882.
> > >> "anti-ultracrepidationism" not in OED3
> > >>=20
> > >> Joel
> > >>=20
> > >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> > >> The American Dialect Society - =
> >
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> >
> xPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3DjEQ2hc1UwEMwKP_xAlIl7wKi7hIYravOTwV4EwNdTHg&s=3DY2667i=
> > kkRwYAFbmVveD8GYjCzc6bUl44HbmQP52WY5A&e=3D=20
> > >>=20
> > >=20
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - =
> >
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttp-3A__www.americandialect.=
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> >
> xPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3DjEQ2hc1UwEMwKP_xAlIl7wKi7hIYravOTwV4EwNdTHg&s=3DY2667i=
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> >
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>
>
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
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