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

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Fri Sep 9 16:04:57 UTC 2016


Where "mad" clearly = "rabid."

JL

On Fri, Sep 9, 2016 at 10:14 AM, MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY
RDECOM AMRDEC (US) <william.d.mullins18.civ at mail.mil> wrote:

> An interaction between co-workers about 30 years ago:
>
> Dan:  Don't get mad, Steve.
> Steve:  Oh, I'm not mad.  If I was mad, you'd be holding your nuts.
>
> >
> > 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
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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



More information about the Ads-l mailing list