[Ads-l] elite, n.

[Jonathan Lighter]

I can't say I've ever heard the term used in the singular, e.g. "She's an
elite."  It's always "the elites" (people more often than institutions) who
are screwing up America.

A "elitist," of course, isn't the same thing.

JL

On Sat, Oct 24, 2015 at 8:16 PM, Joel Berson <berson at att.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Joel Berson <berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: elite, n.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> It used to be the "effete East".=C2=A0 Is it now the "elite East"?=C2=A0
> (A=
> nd "the press" is Eastern -- I'm sure the speaker was thinking of The New
> Y=
> ork Times and the Washington Post.)
>
>
> Joel
>
>       From: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>  To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU=20
>  Sent: Saturday, October 24, 2015 6:58 PM
>  Subject: [ADS-L] elite, n.
>   =20
> Surely we're familiar with the relatively recent right-wing populist use of
> "elites" as a disparaging term.=C2=A0 OED isn't.
>
> I find a useful citation I jotted on a scrap of paper within the past three
> or four months. It comes from a recent TV show, though I can't say
> precisely what:
>
> "The elites - the press, Harvard, the East Coast establishment."
>
> JL
>
> --=20
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>


-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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