[Ads-l] layer = "an insulating item of clothing"

[Margaret Winters]

When someone is traveling to a place where temperatures vary (cool in the morning and evening, for example, and warm during the afternoon), the standard advice is “pack layers”.

Margaret

Sent from my iPad

MARGARET E WINTERS
Former Provost and Professor Emerita French and Linguistics
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI  48202

mewinters at wayne.edu

On Oct 23, 2019, at 4:37 PM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:

Whenever I complain that my wife sets the thermostat at 58 degrees, she says "wear layers !"

Fred Shapiro



________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Mark Mandel <markamandel at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2019 5:10 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: layer = "an insulating item of clothing"

Has anyone else encountered this usage?

An exchange with the writer of an announcement:

=====

Fri, Oct 18, 2019, 2:35 PM …

This is just a quick reminder that we're organizing … on Monday, October
21st, at 9:30am.
[The event] will go until ~1pm and be followed by a vegetarian potluck
lunch.

Things to bring:
…
-A layer. We hope to be outside.

=====

Fri, Oct 18, 2019, 10:57 PM Mark Mandel …
«-A layer. We hope to be outside.»

I'm sorry, that doesn't make any sense to me. A layer of what, for what? My
only guess is that you mean something to sit or lie on, like a picnic
blanket, to protect our clothes from getting stained by the grass.

=====

Tue, Oct 22, 2019, 1:50 PM…
Hi Mark-
By a layer, I meant a clothing layer. Like a jacket or sweater.

=====

MAM

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