[Ads-l] third place

[Laurence Horn]

Part of a general pattern wherein a binary opposition with an excluded middle is presupposed or in practice, and then a third unexcluded middle is established as distinct from and somehow between each of the others or neutral with respect to their opposition. This third factor is often negatively or disjunctively defined rather than constituting a well-defined category.

Examples:  

Neither fish nor fowl nor good red herring
Third world (still used, even now that the definition of the second world has become somewhat inchoate)
Third way (in political usage, drawing on liberal social views and conservative economic ones:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Way)
(Chomsky’s) third factor (in language acquisition), the first two being genetic endowment and experience.  
(http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.174.4334&rep=rep1&type=pdf)

I’m sure I’m forgetting some, and of course not all third things, even when the third is the last on the continuum—e.g. “third degree” (in interrogation or burns), “the third Reich"—fit the pattern.

LH

> On Feb 9, 2019, at 11:44 AM, Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> Not in the English OLD, Wiktionary or Merriam-Webster.
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_place <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_place>: "In community building, the third place is the social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home ("first place") and the workplace ("second place"). Examples of third places would be environments such as churches, cafes, clubs, public libraries, or parks.”
> 
> https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/02/08/howard-schultz-president-starbucks-profile-2020-224823 <https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/02/08/howard-schultz-president-starbucks-profile-2020-224823>
> How Howard Schultz Left a Bitter Taste in Seattle’s Mouth
> Eric Scigliano
> 8 Feb 2019
> Quoting Howard Schultz in reference to Starbucks cafes:
> 
> —— 
> a “gathering spot, a Third Place that draws people together.”
> —— 
> 
> Although “third place” is probably capitalized because it’s jargon, it could also be because of a bookstore and cafe that used to be in Seattle and is now nearby called Third Place Books (https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/lake-forest-park <https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/lake-forest-park>).
> 
> Benjamin Barrett
> Formerly of Seattle, WA
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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