[Ads-l] Twitter exchange: Merriam Webster vs Slate

[Jonathan Lighter]

This particular mental aberration (less common today than formerly) can be
traced to a  deep, unconscious love for whoever first urged the sufferer
never to say "mad" when they mean "angry"; in many cases it was accompanied
by an injunction that only birdbrains do so.

Such sufferers wish to appear quietly superior. They do not wish to be
perceived as birdbrains.

Ironically.

JL

On Fri, Sep 9, 2016 at 1:57 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com
> wrote:

> BuzzFeed posted an article about a sharp exchange on twitter between
> an editor at Slate and the
> official Merriam Webster twitter account. Further below are the germane
> tweets.
>
> Website: BuzzFeed News
> Timestamp: Sept. 7, 2016, at 3:04 p.m.
> Article: People Can’t Get Over The Dictionary’s — Yes, The
> Dictionary’s — Savage Clapback
> Author: Tasneem Nashrulla (BuzzFeed News Reporter)
>
> http://bzfd.it/2cCGf0f
>
> [Begin tweets]
> Merriam-Webster ‏@MerriamWebster Sep 6
> It's fine to use mad to mean "angry"—even if doing so makes some people
> mad.
>
> Gabriel Roth ‏@gabrielroth Sep 6
> I feel like @MerriamWebster is turning into the “chill” parent who
> lets your friends come over and get high
>
> Gabriel Roth ‏@gabrielroth Sep 6
> It’s great at first, it’s nice to have friends and a place to get
> high, but something about it starts to feel wrong
>
> Gabriel Roth ‏@gabrielroth Sep 6
> If no one’s making rules for us, it means we’re responsible for our
> own decisions, and we feel kind of ambivalent about that tbqh
> 325 retweets 513 likes
>
> Merriam-Webster ‏@MerriamWebster Sep 7
> @gabrielroth No one cares how you feel.
> 14,909 retweets  26,059 likes
>
> Ziwe ‏@ziwe Sep 7
> @MerriamWebster @gabrielroth this is an iconic drag
> [End tweets]
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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