[Ads-l] nounified adjectives revisited

Ben Zimmer bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM
Tue Jan 31 14:49:15 UTC 2017


Perhaps Krugman picked it up from fellow pundit Josh Marshall, who uses
"(the) crazy" very often on Talking Points Memo.

https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Atalkingpointsmemo.com+%22the+crazy%22


On Mon, Jan 30, 2017 at 10:31 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

> Right; I’m partly wondering about the leap from Tracy Morgan/Adam Sandler
> to Paul Krugman.
>
> LH
>
> > On Jan 30, 2017, at 10:23 PM, Yagoda, Ben <byagoda at UDEL.EDU> wrote:
> >
> > Trendy and stronger, as in comedian Tracy Morgan's "bring the funny" and
> Adam Sandler's misnamed "Here Comes the Funny" tour
> >
> > http://www.offbeat.com/news/comes-funny-tour-bring-adam-
> sandler-david-spade-rober-schneider-new-orleans/
> >
> > Sent from my phone
> >
> > On Jan 30, 2017, at 10:15 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU<
> mailto:laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>> wrote:
> >
> > =46rom Paul Krugman=E2=80=99s column in today=E2=80=99s Times:
> >
> > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> > As you may recall =E2=80=94 or maybe you don=E2=80=99t, with the crazy =
> > coming so thick and fast =E2=80=94 the White House first seemed to say =
> > that it would impose a 20 percent tariff on Mexico, but may have been =
> > talking about a tax plan, proposed by Republicans in the House, that =
> > would do no such thing; then said that it was just an idea; then dropped
> =
> > the subject, at least for now.
> >
> > =
> > https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/opinion/building-a-wall-
> of-ignorance.ht=
> > ml
> > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> >
> > =E2=80=9CCrazy=E2=80=9D as a noun is probably one of the conversions =
> > we=E2=80=99ve discussed, but if it isn=E2=80=99t it could have been.  =
> > I=E2=80=99m wondering whether the use of the =
> > adjective-in-noun=E2=80=99s-clothing in such cases, as opposed to the =
> > well-established noun already on the lexical shelf
> (=E2=80=9Ccraziness=E2=80=
> > =9D) is that it=E2=80=99s=E2=80=A6stronger?  More salient? Trendy?  =
> > (Although Krugman doesn=E2=80=99t strike me as the type who goes for =
> > trendy...)  Any speculation?
>

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