[Ads-l] Phrase: drop-dead gorgeous - NYT obit for Richard Corliss and OED

Sun Apr 26 17:42:17 UTC 2015

The Wikipedia article for Richard Corliss has now been updated to
remove the claim. The edit history indicated that the modification was
performed by a person who was not a registered Wikipedian. Below is
the comment that accompanied the change:

[Begin excerpt]
(Not true, "drop-dead gorgeous" was not coined by Corliss. He used the
term, but there are many earlier examples.)
[End excerpt]

Jesse was probably addressing Ben. But I will comment because it is an
interesting question.

Nowadays, I do not modify public-facing Wikipedia pages. Multiple
reference notes in Wikipedia and Wikiquote now point to the Quote
Investigator (QI) website. The QI website is treated as a reliable
source. Making direct modifications in Wikipedia can raise complex
issues involving conflict of interest.

Independent researchers face thorny issues with Wikipedia. For
example, the volunteer editors created an article titled "For sale:
baby shoes, never worn" about a short-short story attributed to Ernest
Hemingway. The crucial content of this article was largely lifted from
an article I wrote on this topic. Reference notes 1 a b c d e f all
point to my website.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_sale:_baby_shoes,_never_worn

http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/01/28/baby-shoes/

Traffic that would flow to the QI website has been diverted to
Wikipedia because a Wikipedia article is given a high ranking position
in search results generated by Google and Bing. Any
advertiser-supported website would be hurt by reduced traffic.
(Currently, QI has no advertisements, but that may change some day.)

Garson

On Sun, Apr 26, 2015 at 11:26 AM, Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Phrase: drop-dead gorgeous - NYT obit for Richard Corliss and
>               OED
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> So you didn't immediately edit Wikipedia to correct this? Come on, let's
> all do our part!
>
> On Sat, Apr 25, 2015 at 04:35:40PM -0400, Ben Zimmer wrote:
>> I suspect we owe the coinage claim to a Wikipedia contributor editing
>> Corliss's page, based on a misreading of the OED entry.
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Corliss&diff=prev&oldid=592380062
>>
>> On Sat, Apr 25, 2015 at 3:57 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole wrote:
>> >
>> > Nancy Friedman @Fritinancy tweeted an interesting note about the
>> > obituary for film critic Richard Corliss. He was credited in the NYT
>> > with coining the phrase "drop-dead gorgeous".
>> >
>> > Website: New York Times nytimes.com
>> > Article: Richard Corliss, 71, Longtime Film Critic for Time, Dies
>> > Author: Bruce Weber
>> > Date: April 24, 2015
>> >
>> > http://nyti.ms/1Jptu2B
>> > http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/25/business/media/richard-corliss-71-longtime-film-critic-for-time-dies.html
>> >
>> > [Begin excerpt]
>> > He expressed adoration of movie stars as different as James Stewart
>> > and Cameron Diaz. In a 1985 review of the comedy-thriller "Into the
>> > Night," he described Michelle Pfeiffer as "drop-dead gorgeous,"
>> > purportedly coining the phrase.
>> > [End excerpt]
>> >
>> > The Oxford English Dictionary has a relevant entry for drop-dead as an
>> > adjective and adverb.
>> >
>> > drop-dead, adj. and adv.
>> > OED Third Edition, December 2001
>> > [Begin excerpt]
>> > colloq. (orig. U.S.).
>> >  A. adj.
>> >  1. Stunning, striking, exceptional; breathtaking, heart-stopping.
>> >
>> > 1962   N.Y. Herald-Tribune 18 Jan. 14   Fashions from Florence not
>> > drop-dead... For almost the first time in history Simonetta failed to
>> > deliver an absolutely drop-dead collection.
>> > . . .
>> >
>> > 2. B. adv.
>> >
>> >   As an intensifier modifying an adjective, freq. emphasizing physical
>> > attractiveness: extremely; strikingly, astonishingly, breathtakingly.
>> > Freq. in drop-dead gorgeous.
>> >
>> > 1980   Washington Post 13 July c2/3   For drop dead chic food,
>> > Harborplace has a sushi and tempura bar.
>> >
>> > 1985   Time (Nexis) 25 Feb. 96   Trim, smart and drop-dead gorgeous,
>> > Pfeiffer has been nibbling at stardom since her stints in Grease II
>> > and Scarface.
>> >
>> > [End excerpt]
>> >
>> > The 1985 citation was in a film review in Time magazine, and it was
>> > probably written by Richard Corliss. The NYT obit writer may have
>> > misinterpreted the OED entry and concluded that the earliest known
>> > citation for "drop-dead gorgeous" was written by Corliss in 1985. But
>> > the OED researcher was looking for the earliest adverbial use and was
>> > not searching for the precise phrase "drop-dead gorgeous". In any
>> > case, earlier instances can be found.
>> >
>> > "drop-dead gorgeous" was employed in a UPI article in 1975. The
>> > following cite also antedates the adverbial sense of "drop dead". I do
>> > not know who wrote the UPI article.
>> >
>> > Date: June 22, 1975
>> > Newspaper: Sunday Herald Advertiser (Boston Herald)
>> > Newspaper Location: Boston, Massachusetts
>> > Article: Movies: Putting Watergate on Screen
>> > Author: UPI News Service
>> > Quote Page A13, Column 1
>> > Database: GenealogyBank)
>> >
>> > [Begin excerpt]
>> > Five-hundred extras, patrons of the Corcoran Art Gallery, were hired
>> > to look like classy theater-goers. A thousand more Kennedy Center
>> > goers joined the mob along with a few members of the public who
>> > sneaked in to rub elbows with Robert ("Drop-dead Gorgeous") Redford
>> > [End excerpt]
>>
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