[Ads-l] Adage: There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The QI website now has an entry about the adage mentioned in the
subject line. Three list members were included in the acknowledgement
given below.
Thanks!
Garson

>From the Sublime to the Ridiculous There Is But One Step
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/06/24/sublime/

[Begin acknowledgement]
Great thanks to Philip Cherny whose inquiry led QI to formulate this
question and perform this exploration. Many thanks to Wilson Gray and
Laurence Horn for help in translating the 1767 citation. Any errors
are the responsibility of QI. Thanks to Ralph Keyes for his analysis
of this saying in “The Quote Verifier” and to Fred Shapiro for his
citations in “The Yale Book of Quotations”. Also, thanks to Nigel Rees
who discussed this topic in the April 2015 issue of “The Quote Unquote
Newsletter” and presented some of the key citations listed above.
[End acknowledgement]


On Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 3:13 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Adage: There is only one step from the sublime to the
>               ridiculous
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 9:58 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> wrote:
>
>> The reflexive is used for both a passive, as in Wilson's version, and a
>> true reflexive.
>>
>
> Or, to put it another way, the reflexive is used for both a true reflexive,
> as in Larry's version, and a passive. ;-)
>
> Youneverknow.
>
>
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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