[Ads-l] NYimes.com: "non(-)plused"

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Fri Nov 6 03:07:34 UTC 2015


> On Nov 5, 2015, at 3:51 PM, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM> wrote:
> 
> The changing definition has been discussed at least twice on the list. BB

Yes, and on at least one of those occasions I came out of the closet and admitted I'd always assigned it the meaning below.  Now I know better, and just avoid using the word completely.  But I do interpret it in the "official" sense when I can--unless it's clearly not being used that way.

I wonder if "informal" is really right, though. 'Unperturbed' is an innovative meaning, but I'm not sure it differs in register from the older meaning.   Wilson would probably just annotate it as "incorrect", but I'm not sure I'd want to go that route either.

LH
> 
>> Il giorno 5 nov 2015, alle ore 10:47, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> ha scritto:
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Though I'd never seen this spelling until a few minutes ago, "non-plused"
>> is easily Googlable to at least 1657 and "nonplused" to at least 1661.
>> 
>> But what's really disturbing is the definition:
>> 
>> "2. NORTH AMERICAN informal
>>    (of a person) not disconcerted; unperturbed."
>> 
>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__encrypted.google.com_-23q-3Dnonplused&d=AwIFAg&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=tq0Ejn-THxwCPIpAeps2bpKL_5ymJTQoEFyyib9_3FM&s=799AbhiFnsCDNf_tea0UwGqZGFXaxMyScR5AOIlYeo8&e= 
> 
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