[Ads-l] creatives

[David Wilton]

I've heard "a police" to refer to police officers. It was quite common on the TV series The Wire.

Also, "the talent" in the movie industry to refer to the actors. I've never heard that one in the singular, though. It's always a collective noun in my experience.


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Laurence Horn
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2018 1:49 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] creatives

I thought so, but more recently (and maybe discussed on the list?) I’ve come across references to “a religious”.  Cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_(Western_Christianity).

LH

> On Jul 23, 2018, at 2:08 PM, Galen Buttitta <satorarepotenetoperarotas3 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> Isn’t that usage reserved for collectives though (e.g. “the religious prepare for persecution”)?
> 
>> On Jul 23, 2018, at 12:44, Marc Sacks <msacksg at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>> 
>> "Creative" used this way sounds like an analogue to "religious" as a 
>> noun to refer to a person in a religious order.
>> 
>> Marc Sacks
>> 
>> On Mon, Jul 23, 2018 at 11:56 AM, Laurence Horn 
>> <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>> -----------------------
>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>> Subject:      Re: creatives
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> -------------------
>>> 
>>>> On Jul 23, 2018, at 11:48 AM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>>> =20
>>>> On Mon, Jul 23, 2018 at 11:38 AM, Mark Mandel =
>>> <mark.a.mandel at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> =20
>>>>>> "The Garage" comprises 14 affordable studios for artists, 
>>>>>> creatives =
>>> and
>>>>> small businesses
>>>>> =20
>>>>> This is in the text describing a video at 
>>>>> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3DFg6dNWlqnrY
>>>>> =20
>>>>> VIDEO: Cherry Street Pier, Philly's next revitalized waterfront 
>>>>> space
>>>>> =20
>>>> =20
>>>> See the OED3 entry for "creative, n." (revised June 2003). Sense 2, 
>>>> "a creative person, a person whose job involves creative work," 
>>>> dates =
>>> back to
>>>> 1938, and cites from 1970 on show the more specific sense in =
>>> advertising:
>>>> "a person who carries out creative work on an advertising campaign, 
>>>> =
>>> esp. a
>>>> copywriter, art director, or designer.=E2=80=9D
>>> 
>>> Indeed, this use of =E2=80=9Ccreative(s)=E2=80=9D immediately 
>>> conjured = up Mad Men for me.  I can=E2=80=99t remember if 
>>> that=E2=80=99s where I = first encountered it but it may have been.
>>>> =20
>>>> See also Arnold Z.'s 2012 post on the nouning of "creative":
>>>> =20
>>>> https://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/03/12/annals-of-nouning-creative/
>>>> =20
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>> 
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>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>> 
>> 
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>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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