[Ads-l] nouning of adjectives again

[Laurence Horn]

Here's a dissenting opinion from the local press 4 years ago, bemoaning the switch from their earlier slogan "Always Turned On".  

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/opinion/letters/always-turned-on-is-better-slogan-than-do-ac/article_986c5569-5bb2-5419-aa00-6d8d0e95ea65.html

I was wondering whether some might read the new slogan as advocacy for the use of air conditioning, and I see I'm not alone.  Of course, as the editorial fails to recognize, "Always Turned On" might be misread in a couple of even more interesting ways.

LH




> On May 18, 2016, at 10:24 AM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> On Wed, May 18, 2016 at 9:10 AM, James A. Landau wrote:
> 
>> 
>> Another usage of "do": for some time now Atlantic City, New Jersey, has
>> been using the advertising slogan/graphic
>> 
>> DO
>> --
>> AC
>> 
>> It is not clear to me what the exact meaning of "DO" is here, although the
>> intent of the graphic seems obvious.
>> 
>> see, e.g., https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.atlanticcitynj.com_&d=AwIBaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=iFa3SLCsf6jyjDriuuGNXKcOg7MLbGtTqBQUDIuIcPo&s=8YiXgFY4DM_pzkijFuwfmjugxw-RS1tCoiTCu1dP08w&e= 
> 
> 
> Looks like OED3 sense 24: "trans. colloq. To go to, travel within, or visit
> as a tourist; to attend (an entertainment)." Earliest cite is:
> 
> 1817   Countess Granville Let. June (1894) I. 119   We shall then meet them
> at Basle, do the Rhine, stay two or three days at Brussels, and home.
> 
> --bgz
> 
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