[Ads-l] New to me: 'kayfabe'

[Geoffrey Nathan]

Apologies to the list for not having done my homework.
The word seemed so unlikely to me it never occurred to me
to check. And I've been a member of this list for a very long
time. Of course my memory isn't what it used to be. If it
ever was...

Geoff

Geoffrey S. Nathan
WSU Information Privacy Officer (Retired)
Emeritus Professor, Linguistics Program
https://clasprofiles.wayne.edu/profile/an6993
geoffnathan at wayne.edu

From: ADSGarson O'Toole<mailto:adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, January 5, 2021 10:26 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: New to me: 'kayfabe'

[EXTERNAL]

---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: New to me: 'kayfabe'
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ben Zimmer mentioned "kayfabe" on this mailing list back in 2005
(before my time) within a thread titled "Carny Lingo". Ben pointed to
an entry in the "Double-Tongued Dictionary" which is now maintained at
"A Way with Words":

[Begin excerpt]
Both the Keyser and Torch glossaries also have "kayfabe", one of the
many fascinating terms that I've first encountered on Grant's site.
http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/kayfabe/
[End excerpt]

Further back in time, the term was mentioned in a thread titled "kay
fabe" on this mailing list in 1999:
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/1999-June/000447.html

Nancy Friedman has an up-to-date discussion on her website as she noted:
https://nancyfriedman.typepad.com/away_with_words/2016/09/word-of-the-week-kayfabe.html

Garson

On Tue, Jan 5, 2021 at 6:38 PM Geoffrey Nathan <geoffnathan at wayne.edu> wrote:
>
> Just learned a new word. From an article on Slate about how tomorrow's Senate
> process is likely to unfold I found the following:
>
> 'More than a dozen Republican senators have said
> they will sign on to various objections,
> promising to make this year's electoral count a spectacle of kayfabe sedition.'
>
> https://bit.ly/2Xe1HOq
>
> According to Wikipedia, 'kayfabe' means the kind of scripted 'fight' seen in professional
> wrestling, where the outcomes are predestined and the 'fighters' remain in
> character, even outside of the ring while entertaining fans.
>
> Geoffrey S. Nathan
> WSU Information Privacy Officer (Retired)
> Emeritus Professor, Linguistics Program
> https://clasprofiles.wayne.edu/profile/an6993
> geoffnathan at wayne.edu
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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


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