[Ads-l] intrusive "of" intrudes further

[Jonathan Lighter]

Am pretty sure that I heard this same construction ("X enough of a") some
years back, but can't say when.

1990s?

JL

On Mon, Dec 7, 2015 at 6:07 PM, Neal Whitman <nwhitman at ameritech.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Neal Whitman <nwhitman at AMERITECH.NET>
> Subject:      Re: intrusive "of" intrudes further
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  From "What if Will Smith had played Neo in /The Matrix/?",
> /Entertainment Weekly,/ #1393, Dec. 11, 2015, 6. 41:
>
> In a recent interview with /Wired,/ Smith admitted he would have
> "totally messed up /The Matrix/" had he accepted, saying, "I wasn't
> SMART ENOUGH OF AN ACTOR to let the movie be, whereas Keanu was."
> (emphasis added)
>
> On the one hand, this is an "of" where we haven't seen it before: it's
> not with "too," "how," "as/so," or "this/that" (or even "very," looking
> at my earlier example). You'd just expect prenominal "a smart enough
> actor". On the other hand, we do have the standard "enough OF a [NOUN]
> to [VERB]," which is so very close to what Will Smith said. Maybe we
> have a production error, blending "enough of an actor" with "a smart
> enough actor".
>
> Neal
>
>
> On 11/5/2015 10:58 PM, Neal Whitman wrote:
> > And this morning, from my 15yo son:
> >
> > "It just wasn't very good of an apple."
> >
> > Neal
> >
> > On Nov 5, 2015, at 9:50 PM, Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at MST.EDU
> > <mailto:gcohen at MST.EDU>> wrote:
> >
> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >> -----------------------
> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >> <mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>>
> >> Poster:       "Cohen, Gerald Leonard" <gcohen at MST.EDU
> >> <mailto:gcohen at MST.EDU>>
> >> Subject:      Re: intrusive "of" intrudes further
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >> The "of" in "various of scientists" seems explainable as a blend:
> >> "various =
> >> scientists" + "a number of scientists" (and perhaps "a lot of
> >> scientists").
> >> Gerald Cohen
> >> ________________________________________
> >> Jonathan Lighter [wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
> >> <mailto:wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>],Thursday, November 05, 2015 6:18 =
> >> PM, wrote:
> >> How about this, attributed to a presidential candidate whose name you
> >> would
> >> recognize in a twinkling?
> >> "And various of scientists have said, 'well, you know there were alien
> >> beings that came down and they have special knowledge and that's
> >> how.' You
> >> know, it doesn't require an alien being when God is with you."
> >> (I mean, how about the "of"?)
> >> JL
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org