[Ads-l] legendary = 'worthy of becoming legend'
Jonathan Lighter
wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Tue Jul 21 15:02:13 UTC 2015
This has probably been in use for a long time, but here's a clear-cut ex..
Jessica Lynch before Congress, 2007:
"I'm still confused as to why they chose to lie and try to make me a legend
when the real heroics of my fellow soldiers that day were legendary.
http://www.kpho.com/story/29589350/for-years-former-pow-jessica-lynch-kept-the-hurt-inside#ixzz3gXP6AQrV
The ex. above differs from the long familiar sports usage in that when
sports or entertainment figures or moments are "legendary," they've
(merely) been well publicized and known for a long time.
In the 2007 ex., though, the "real heroics" had been poorly publicized and
were generally unknown.
The OED entry hasn't been updated since 1902.
JL
--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
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