[Ads-l] goofus

[Jonathan Lighter]

I have had many occasions to use both. A goofus is goofier than a doofus,
who is more obviously plain stupid.

JL

On Sat, May 7, 2016 at 12:52 PM, Neal Whitman <nwhitman at ameritech.net>
wrote:

> For me, "doofus" is a common noun, while "Goofus" is a proper noun, best
> known from the Highlights magazine do's and don'ts duo of Goofus and
> Gallant.
>
> Neal
>
> > On May 7, 2016, at 9:19 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> wrote:
> >
> > Yesterday Donald Trump twice very clearly called Sen. Elizabeth Warren a
> > "goofus" (see HDAS). Not thirty seconds earlier he'd described her as
> > "goofy."
> >
> > CNN commentators (and the banner) keep characterize the word as "doofus"
> > (see HDAS): "I haven't heard the word 'doofus' since high school," e.g.
> >
> > Cf. "big-league" (see HDAS) and "bigly" (don't).
> >
> >
> >
> > JL
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "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