[Ads-l] healthier, n.

Sat May 9 20:08:26 UTC 2015

 The relative novelty is the ready use of adjectival forms objectively as
well as subjectively.

Cf.

*The road to bigger is paved with good intentions.

I suggest that the construction would attract little notice today, outside
of the pedantic classes.

JL

On Sat, May 9, 2015 at 3:29 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: healthier, n.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> > On May 9, 2015, at 2:30 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >=20
> > I have seen "the road to X" use adjectives.
>
> Ah, but comparatives, as in Jon's example ("the pursuit of healthier") =
> and hypothesis?  Do you get "The road to healthier" or just "The road to =
> healthy"?  I see lots of g-hits for "the road to healthy is X" (where X =
> =3D variously "long and winding", "one of movement", "paved with Y", =
> "less a superhighway and more a crumbly uphill sidewalk" and so on, but =
> not a single actual cite for "the road to healthier is"
>
> LH
> >=20
> > DanG
> >=20
> > On Sat, May 9, 2015 at 9:12 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> > wrote:
> >=20
> >> ---------------------- 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: healthier, n.
> >>=20
> >> =
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> -----
> >>=20
> >>> On May 9, 2015, at 7:19 AM, Jonathan Lighter =
> <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> =3D
> >> wrote:
> >>> =3D20
> >>> =3D
> >> =
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3D3Dhttps-3A__www.youtube.com_w=
> at=3D
> >> =
> ch-3Fv-3DWSKU2CwTMSg&d=3D3DAwIBaQ&c=3D3D-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=3D3DwFp3X=
> 4Mu39h=3D
> >> =
> B2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3D3DcGC7senOcmaOZjJrZtCpg0_71qb_5gdxkDt=
> S7=3D
> >> -AjITg&s=3D3DEvQ7JkLp6nbiqlSK9sipYlzRYPD-wn34tQFGlS4RCv4&e=3D3D=3D20
> >>> =3D20
> >>> "The pursuit of healthier. It begins from the second we're born."
> >>> =3D20
> >>> This is the first ex. I've noticed of a nominalized adjective in the
> >>> comparative degree.
> >>=20
> >> Well, nominalized adjectives in subject position aren't that hard to =
> =3D
> >> find--lots of examples of, for example, "Richer is X", where X =3D3D =
> =3D
> >> better, safer, greener, not to mention "Bigger is better", "Taller is =
> =3D
> >> better", "Older is better", "Smaller is better", etc.  These could be =
> =3D
> >> seen as a snowclone (based on "Bigger is better" as a meme?).  But =
> the =3D
> >> predicate isn't always itself a comparative:
> >>=20
> >> Comcast defends Time Warner Cable merger to Congress: 'Bigger is =
> good'.
> >> =3D
> >> =
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttp-3A__www.pbs.org_newshour=
>
> _rundown_comcast-2Ddefends-2Dtime-2Dwarner-2Dcable-2Dmerg-3D&d=3DAwIBaQ&c=3D=
>
> -dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=3DwFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3D=
> 7LDVNEIfQRmBJxOO9jFYWbX1mZ0qSlZqim1llax3ZaY&s=3DPJgSiAicJ7MwValWqT30mRM0eN=
> JppI4ABb-UgcCEc2g&e=3D=20
> >> er-congress-bigger-good/
> >>=20
> >> And many g-hits for "Slutty is good", "Sneaky is good", etc.  These =
> all =3D
> >> might be argued to involve adjectival subjects, with no =
> nominalization =3D
> >> stage.  Then there's "the more the merrier" type, which may or may =
> not =3D
> >> involve a nominalized adjective.  But I agree that nominalized =3D
> >> adjectives as the object of a preposition seems innovative (or weird, =
> =3D
> >> depending on the beholder). =3D20
> >>=20
> >> How about direct objects? A somewhat marginal case from a novel:  =
> "For =3D
> >> richer or poorer--but I prefer richer".  Kind of metalinguistic, =
> though. =3D
> >> I suspect I've also encountered "I like X" for adjectival X (rich, =3D
> >> slutty, sneaky,...).  How about "There's nothing wrong with X", where =
> X =3D
> >> is an adjective that's the object of a preposition? =3D20
> >>=20
> >> "There's nothing wrong with bigger and better."
> >> =3D
> >> =
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttp-3A__www.mikelopez.com_wh=
> y-2Dsome-2Dpeople-2Dare-2Dscared-2Dto-2Dmake-2Dlots-2Dof-2Dmoney.-3D&d=3DA=
> wIBaQ&c=3D-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=3DwFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRs=
> MFFaLQ&m=3D7LDVNEIfQRmBJxOO9jFYWbX1mZ0qSlZqim1llax3ZaY&s=3DTgGPQTMnnpAN1fs=
> LKjt84R0Vk_kc7PYyrY2YTKwCeKc&e=3D=20
> >> html
> >>=20
> >> "There's nothing wrong with smaller at all"
> >> =3D
> >> =
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttp-3A__www.brookfieldnow.co=
>
> m_sports_goodman-2Dnamed-2Dnew-2Dgirls-2Dbasketball-2Dcoa-3D&d=3DAwIBaQ&c=3D=
>
> -dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=3DwFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3D=
> 7LDVNEIfQRmBJxOO9jFYWbX1mZ0qSlZqim1llax3ZaY&s=3D74oEYoYsVQDdDTKlaB_NsXTUW3=
> IT0Ob--HjQBkxV5vg&e=3D=20
> >> ch-at-east-fp697vm-164263526.html
> >>=20
> >>=20
> >> LH
> >>=20
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
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> org&d=3DAwIBaQ&c=3D-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=3DwFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsS=
> xPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3D7LDVNEIfQRmBJxOO9jFYWbX1mZ0qSlZqim1llax3ZaY&s=3DOq4t_d=
> X2Yvmdgu116jRL_LtGFuA8x4gMhK_H1vqJq50&e=3D=20
> >>=20
> >=20
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> org&d=3DAwIBaQ&c=3D-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=3DwFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsS=
> xPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3D7LDVNEIfQRmBJxOO9jFYWbX1mZ0qSlZqim1llax3ZaY&s=3DOq4t_d=
> X2Yvmdgu116jRL_LtGFuA8x4gMhK_H1vqJq50&e=3D=20
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