[Ads-l] sexist "crazy"

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

> On Mar 23, 2016, at 8:20 AM, Salikoko S. Mufwene <s-mufwene at UCHICAGO.EDU> wrote:
> 
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Salikoko S. Mufwene" <s-mufwene at UCHICAGO.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: sexist "crazy"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> I can imagine a situation in which /crazy/ in /crazy ex-girlfriend/ is 
> not appositive.

I did not claim that the expression was always appositive; clearly it is not. Nor did I claim the a use of it was always sexist; that would be a matter of judging the way it's used, in what contexts, by which speakers or writers. 

The fact remains that many people, most of whom could not be characterized in any way as raving loony feminazis, see a distinction between *some* uses, by *some* people, in *some* contexts.

Arnold

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