[Ads-l] readout

[Peter Reitan]

I recognize the term from usage in political news going back many years.

A few weeks ago, there were was a not insignificant smattering of 
shaming articles and news items by scolds in the press when some people 
referred to the document that was released with the contents of the 
"Ukraine call" as a "transcript" instead of a summary or "readout" 
(stories written by the same kinds of people who scolded people a couple 
years ago for using the expression "wiretap" to refer to electronic 
eavesdropping without wires, while ignoring the irony of using 
"electronic eavesdropping" in circumstances not involving standing under 
the eaves and listening through a window).

I guess these sorts of records of diplomatic telephone calls have never 
been "transcripts" in the traditional sense because they are written by 
note-takers and not taken down verbatim by a stenographer or transcribed 
from an audio recording.

------ Original Message ------
From: "Alice Faber" <afaber at panix.com>
To: ADS-L at listserv.uga.edu
Sent: 11/21/2019 2:44:32 PM
Subject: Re: readout

>---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Alice Faber <afaber at PANIX.COM>
>Subject:      Re: readout
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>On 11/21/19 5:31 PM, Barretts Mail wrote:
>>  The word â??readoutâ? in the Trump impeachment hearings this week confused me. It was used at least three times; I havenâ??t been following too closely.
>>
>>  Neither the OED nor Merriam-Webster have the meaning intended. Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/readout <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/readout>) has: "An account of the topics discussed in a meeting, especially in diplomatic or political contexts.�
>>
>I first noticed this usage at the beginning of the current
>administration, and had to intuit the meaning from context.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


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