[Ads-l] Idle curiosity

Sun Jul 12 17:01:34 UTC 2015

You say it has been "generalized". Generalized to what? The ESPN App is
about sports. Clutch is a sports term. It is in an advertisement. It is, at
worst, a metaphor.

If the new PBS App said it was clutch, that I would accept as a
generalization.

DanG

On Sun, Jul 12, 2015 at 12:50 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Idle curiosity
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> > On Jul 12, 2015, at 12:09 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM> =
> wrote:
> >=20
> > Clutch as an adjective in the context of sports is new??
> >=20
> > DanG
>
> Seems like it's been generalized, though.  AHD has this for "clutch, =
> adj.":
>
> adj.=20
> Informal
> 1. Being or occurring in a tense or critical situation: won the =
> championship by sinking a clutch putt.
> 2. Tending to be successful in tense or critical situations: The coach =
> relied on her clutch pitcher.
>
> I'm familiar with that use, which curiously the draft addition (Dec. =
> 2013) for the OED "clutch, n." entry--
>
> 'Of a player: reliable or successful in a situation when the outcome of =
> a game or competition is at stake; (also) designating a critical moment =
> in a game; designating (good) play at such a moment.'
>
> --doesn't specify as an adjective.  While most of the cites at that =
> entry (or in the related entry for "clutch hitter") can also be taken to =
> be modifying nouns in a nominal compound,=20
>
> 1929   Frederick (Maryland) Post 26 Mar. 3/6   Marty is one of the best =
> =E2=80=98clutch=E2=80=99 batters in the league. His average is never =
> very high but he always comes through with his hits when they are most =
> needed.
> 1940   Princeton Alumni Weekly 30 Sept. 18/3   Captain Dan Carmichael =
> proved himself to be a good clutch player in the Harvard contest..and =
> the Tigers were able to pull the game out of the fire with a desperate =
> rally.
> 1960   Los Angeles Times 15 Feb. c2/3 (headline)    Clutch play by =
> Cranston wins title.
> 1971   Daily Republic (Mitchell, S. Dakota) 3 Feb. 15/1   The Jacks and =
> Indians battled on nearly even terms..until some clutch free throw =
> shooting in the closing moments by Rod Heinrich, Dave Thomas and Paul =
> Parker put the game away.
> 1994   T. Boswell Cracking Show v. i. 81   He won't expand his strike =
> zone in clutch situations to help the team.
>
> another is clearly adjectival,=20
>
> 2012   R. W. Cohen 50 Greatest Players N.Y. Yankees Hist. xxiv. 128   He =
> had that swing and that heart, he was just totally clutch.
>
> and I've heard this ("X is really clutch", "How clutch is Y!?",  etc.) a =
> lot in sports contexts too. But in any case, none of these extends in an =
> obvious way to the case in question (to modify ESPN's app), unless the =
> implication is that it works well in the clutch, presumably unlike other =
> apps that chokes up when the pressure is on.
>
>
> LH
>
>
> >=20
> > On Sun, Jul 12, 2015 at 8:26 AM, Arnold Zwicky =
> <arnold.zwicky at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >=20
> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >> -----------------------
> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster:       Arnold Zwicky <arnold.zwicky at GMAIL.COM>
> >> Subject:      Re: Idle curiosity
> >>=20
> >> =
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> -----
> >>=20
> >>> On Jul 12, 2015, at 5:17 AM, victor steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM> =
> =3D
> >> wrote:
> >>> =3D20
> >>> Just wondering if anyone has anything interesting to say about these =
> =3D
> >> words:
> >>> =3D20
> >>> Doxx (v.)/-ed/-ing
> >>> Clutch (adj.?) As in "Watch ESPN [app] is pretty clutch." (Taken =
> from
> >>> actual ESPN Radio commercial.)
> >>> Spend (n.) As in "You can monitor your company's spend [via
> >> app].=3DE2=3D80=3D9D=3D
> >>=20
> >>=20
> >> =3DE2=3D80=3D9Cclutch=3DE2=3D80=3D9D is new to me.
> >>=20
> >> on =3DE2=3D80=3D9Cdoxx=3DE2=3D80=3D9D, on my blog:
> >> =
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttp-3A__arnoldzwicky.org_201=
> 4_10_26_doxxing_&d=3DAwIBaQ&c=3D-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=3DwFp3X4Mu39hB2bf=
> 13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3DvwbMa-4SoQ5TS4WsxPcMrT8qAJNZUxLTWZTkviCyV=
> k8&s=3DUZNf8iNCi5rBmni4syar0j_FyqC0IS0x7TvPMOgCm_w&e=3D=20
> >>=20
> >> on the nouning =3DE2=3D80=3D9Cspend=3DE2=3D80=3D9D, on my blog:
> >> =3D
> >> =
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttp-3A__arnoldzwicky.wordpre=
> ss.com_2012_08_23_annals-2Dof-2Dnouning-2Dand-2Dpeeving-3D&d=3DAwIBaQ&c=3D=
>
> -dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=3DwFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3D=
> vwbMa-4SoQ5TS4WsxPcMrT8qAJNZUxLTWZTkviCyVk8&s=3DhP4HQXQjpXitvAMoN33l6vNreo=
> ubdOO_THsEf7PvP_Y&e=3D=20
> >> /
> >>=20
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> >>=20
> >=20
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