[Ads-l] "snow-blowed" [was: "were pick'n up"]

Mon Mar 2 02:16:27 UTC 2015

People are also using "snow-blowered" with trepidation:

[Begin Google search excerpts]
A neighbor secretly snow-blowered (is... - Let Me Start By ...
https://www.facebook.com/LetMeStartBySayingBlog/.../563160957094908
A neighbor secretly snow-blowered (is that even a word?) our driveway.
It's like Christmas morning, but better.

Will the man with the snow blower please step forward?
articles.baltimoresun.com/.../bal-op.rodricks0211_1_snow-blower-snow-...
Feb 11, 2010 - How come the rest of us didn't get our sidewalks and
driveways snow-blowered? (I know: snowblowered is not a word. However,
under current ...

Keyboard Shortcuts - Twitter
https://twitter.com/bryanagarner/status/434137178487013376
Feb 13, 2014 - @BryanAGarner Snow-blowered, perhaps. Like 'snow
plowed' as opposed to 'deep fried.' Describes means, not ends. Expand
Collapse 0 ...

Details Expand Collapse - Twitter
https://twitter.com/johnemcintyre/status/431188948858044416
Feb 5, 2014 - @buckfever . i vote snow-blowered. shall we ask
@madamgrammar? ... @enoughkc @buckfever Snow-blowered sounds as good
as anything.
[End Google search excerpts]

Garson

On Sun, Mar 1, 2015 at 9:08 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: "snow-blowed" [was: "were pick'n up"]
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 3/1/2015 08:16 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>>"The sidewalk was snow-blown by my neighbor."  But as noted below,
>>chaque mot a son histoire; "the sidewalk was snow-blowed" is *really* weird.
>
> Interesting.  Leaving out "by my neighbor" from the utterance, I
> would take "The sidewalk was snow-blown" as meaning by Mother Nature
> (whom the neonate governor of Massachusetts recently called "a big
> powerful lady").  And "The sidewalk was snow-blowed" as meaning by a
> snow-blower (of lesser power).
>
> Joel
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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