[Ads-l] HuffPost interview query: "Dumpster fire" (Reply from Barry Popik) (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill CIV (US)]

CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED


> 
> My thanks to Barry Popik for his response below
> 
> Gerald Cohen
> 
> 
> 
> From: Barry Popik [bapopik at aol.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2016 3:08 PM
> To: Cohen, Gerald Leonard
> Subject: Re: Query from Huffington Post: "Dumpster Fire"
> 
> 
> URBAN DICTIONARY:
> http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Dumpster%20Fire
> ...
> FIRST PROQUEST CITE
> Fire Loss 1 -- No Title
> The Hartford Courant (1923-1990) [Hartford, Conn] 07 Feb 1966: 4.

This is a literal, not figurative usage.

Grand Prairie TX _Daily News-Texan_ 12 Oct 1962 p 3 col 3
"Two fire runs were made Thursday by Grand Prairie firemen, one a grease fire at the Lennon Hotel and the other a dumpster fire at Eddlemon's Food Shop, 209 Clarice."


> ...
> LIKE A DUMPSTER FIRE
> Even amid turmoil, try to give thanks for life Reinhardt, Susan. Asheville Citizen - Times [Asheville, N.C] 08 Dec 2011: B.4.
> 
> ... "My life is like a Dumpster fire," he said, and couldn't resist a brief ...

Columbia SC _State_ 10 Oct 2007 p c4
"Wow, Nebraska looked like a dumpster fire Saturday."


> ...
> IS A DUMPSTER FIRE
> Blame for offense's collapse falls squarely on Brewster's shoulders Souhan, Jim. Star Tribune [Minneapolis, Minn] 22 Nov 2009: C.1.
> ...scheme, the Gophers' offense is a dumpster fire. Weber spent much ...


Columbia SC _State_ 17 Dec 2006 p c4
" Tank Johnson's life is a Dumpster fire."

> DUMPSTER FIRE OF A
> Road to respectability filled with potholes Kravitz, Bob. Indianapolis Star [Indianapolis, Ind] 17 Feb 2010: B.1.
> ... He took over a Dumpster fire of a program, populated by players who were

_Birmingham [AL] News_ 23 July 2009 p 2C
" They don't have Pat White and we don't have that Dumpster fire of an offensive coordinator in Tony Franklin."
 

Earliest comparative use I can find is:
_Grand Rapids [MI] Press_ 2 Apr 2004 p c3
"This bloody, exploitative mess is the cinematic equivalent of a dumpster fire -- stinky, but insignificant."




> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at mst.edu>
> To: ads-l <ads-l at listserv.uga.edu>
> Cc: Barry Popik <bapopik at aol.com>; claire.fallon <claire.fallon at huffingtonpost.com>
> Sent: Wed, May 11, 2016 3:42 pm
> Subject: Query from Huffington Post: "Dumpster Fire"
> 
> 
> Today I received the request below about "dumpster fire" but don't have an answer.
> Would someone else perhaps be able to help?
> 
> Gerald Cohen
> 
> 
> 
> From: Claire Fallon [claire.fallon at huffingtonpost.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2016 1:59 PM
> To: Cohen, Gerald Leonard
> Subject: HuffPost interview query: "Dumpster fire"
> 
> Hi Gerald,
> 
> I'm a Books and Culture writer at HuffPost, and I'm working on an article about the phrase "dumpster fire" and its rather sudden ubiquity as
> an insult. I'm interested in speaking to lexicographers like yourself who might have some insight on its rise to popularity.
> 
> Please let me know if you'd be interested in speaking to me for the article; I'd love to hear your thoughts!
> 
> Best,
> Claire
> 
> --
> Claire Fallon
> Books & Culture Writer | THE HUFFINGTON POST claire.fallon at huffingtonpost.com
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - Caution-Caution-http://www.americandialect.org
CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED

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