[Ads-l] Zby

Wed Jan 14 12:56:51 UTC 2015

Let us turn to Discovery Magazine's useful and garish _Ultimate Book of
Dinosaurs_ (N.Y.: Time Home Entertainment, 2014), written by Lori Stein,
whose name appears only in teeny letters inside under a long roster of
corporate execs.

(She was also the "image manager." That must be something like a spin
doctor for dinos whose "brand" needs a little polishing.)

Special advisor to the publication was the young and photogenic Dr. Joseph
Sertich, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature
& Science, so this is no lightweight publication. Or not as lightweight as
you might have expected.

The names of the known dinosaur genera are listed, along with their
all-important pronunciations.

We learn on page 50 that the basal sauropod Zby is called "zee-bee" by its
friends. Unfortunately the stressed syllable is not indicated, though I
presume it is the final. Except in the U.S. South.

Also of linguistic interest (p.24) are "Irritator," the most annoying giant
slavering carnivorous quasi-reptile, and "Fukuisaurus," the surliest.

JL

On Tue, Jan 13, 2015 at 3:14 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Zby
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Exactly right, Jeff.  It must have been summer '86 or '87.
>
> No more Newyorkasaurus?
>
> What were they thinking?
>
> JL
>
> On Tue, Jan 13, 2015 at 1:34 PM, Jeff Prucher <
> 000000b93183dc86-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jeff Prucher <jprucher at YAHOO.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Zby
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > On Monday, January 12, 2015 5:32 PM, Jonathan Lighter <
> > wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >
> >
> > >
> > >
> > >---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > >Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > >Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > >Subject:      Re: Zby
> >
> >
> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > >Actually it wasn't.  There were other -sauruses to choose from, as I
> >
> > >recall.  "Drunkasaurus" may have been one.
> >
> > Probably one of these: http://www.saurusgang.com/index.html
> >
> > They don't currently have a Newyorkasaurus, but according to their about
> > page,
> > they had hundreds of these back in the day.
> >
> > Jeff
> >
> > >
> > >JL
> > >
> > >On Mon, Jan 12, 2015 at 7:14 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: Zby
> > >>
> > >>
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >>
> > >> This can only have been a New Yorkuh magazine cartoon.
> > >>
> > >> Joel
> > >>
> > >> At 1/12/2015 10:47 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > >>
> > >> >Atound 1987 or '88 my wife purchased an illustrated t-shirt inscribed
> > >> >"Newyorkasaurus."  It bore a cartoon of a sauropod egressing a taxi
> > while
> > >> >loaded down with fancy shopping bags.
> > >> >
> > >> >There was a printed definition too, though I can't remember much
> about
> > it.
> > >> >
> > >> >
> > >> >JL
> > >> >
> > >> >On Mon, Jan 12, 2015 at 8:48 AM, 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: Zby
> > >> > >
> > >> > >
> > >> >
> > >>
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >> > >
> > >> > > Random thoughts --
> > >> > >
> > >> > > Pronunciation -- I think of Zippy/Zibby.  Both he and Zby
> atlanticus
> > >> > > are pinheads.
> > >> > >
> > >> > > Dinosaur naming -- There is a new eat-in/take-out place in
> Cambridge
> > >> > > called "Bagelsaurus" (successor to a weekly pop-up in
> > >> > > Brookline).   They serve a "t-rex" breakfast sandwich.  Will they
> be
> > >> > > sued by pre-established places called "Bagels Are Us"?  Or perhaps
> > by
> > >> > > the nearby "Bagels By Us" of Arlington?
> > >> > >
> > >> > > Joel
> > >> > >
> > >> > > At 1/12/2015 07:36 AM, you wrote:
> > >> > >
> > >> > > >When I was a lad, dinos had normal and euphonious names like
> > >> Styracosaurus
> > >> > > >and Parasaurolophus.
> > >> > > >
> > >> > > >Not any more:
> > >> > > >
> > >> > > >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zby
> > >> > > >
> > >> > > >Isn't this the first example of the initial Polish "Zb" as New
> > Latin,
> > >> and,
> > >> > > >hence, English? ("Zbigniew" doesn't count: it's still Polish.)
> > >> > > >
> > >> > > >Unusually, Wiki doesn't recommend any pronunciation. Maybe it's
> not
> > >> meant
> > >> > > >to be pronounced, rather like the asterisk in the short-lived
> > Shatner
> > >> > > >series, " * My Father Says."
> > >> > > >
> > >> > > >JL
> > >> > > >
> > >> > > >--
> > >> > > >"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle
> the
> > >> > > truth."
> > >> > > >
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> > >> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > >> > > 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
> > >>
> > >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> > >> 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
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > 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
>

-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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