[Ads-l] Amelioration of "notoriety"

[Galen Buttitta]

For me, "notoriety" defaults to a positive connotation. "Notorious" is negative.

> On Sep 23, 2016, at 13:30, Marisa Brook <marisa.brook at MAIL.UTORONTO.CA> wrote:
> 
> Michigan State lost a beloved alumnus recently at the age of 24 and the campus store has been handing out copies of his obituary.<http://obits.mlive.com/obituaries/grandrapids/obituary.aspx?pid=180805567> After three graceful, glowing paragraphs describing the young man's accomplishments and family, the fourth paragraph begins as follows:
> 
> 
> "Sadler gained notoriety for influencing others through communication."
> 
> 
> After that, we get a description of his reportedly well-liked social media presence, which is said to have involved "humor, wit, and philosophy".
> 
> 
> Seems to be a use of the word to mean 'popularity' (or at least 'considerable attention') - in a non-facetious obituary in a medium where the words were likely to have been carefully chosen. I'm intrigued. Has anyone else noticed cases of this?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ***************************
> Marisa Brook
> Assistant Professor
> Department of Linguistics & Germanic, Slavic, Asian and African Languages
> Michigan State University
> East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1027 USA
> http://linglang.msu.edu/people/faculty/marisa-brook/
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org