[Ads-l] UAP - unidentified aerial phenomena (or phenomenon)

[Laurence Horn]

To be sure, an unidentified anomalous phenomenon is not necessarily an
airborne toxic event, but the latter would seem to be a prime subcase of
the former.

On Mon, Apr 17, 2023 at 12:33 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Drifting past, IMO. "Toxic" means toxic, "anomalous" just means funny.
>
> JL
>
> On Mon, Apr 17, 2023 at 11:33 AM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> wrote:
>
> > "Unidentified anomalous phenomenon" is drifting dangerously in the
> > direction of Don DeLillo's "airborne toxic event" ("White Noise", 1985).
> >
> > LH
> >
> > On Mon, Apr 17, 2023 at 10:12 AM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > As mentioned in my Feb. 16, 2023 WSJ column (
> https://on.wsj.com/3Edux7t
> > ):
> > >
> > > "In the latest terminological twist, NASA has modified 'UAP' to stand
> > for a
> > > slightly different phrase: 'unidentified anomalous phenomena.'"
> > >
> > > Linking to:
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-announces-unidentified-anomalous-phenomena-study-team-members/
> > >
> > > Also mentioned in my Twitter thread:
> > >
> > > https://twitter.com/bgzimmer/status/1626924874504495104
> > >
> > > On Mon, Apr 17, 2023 at 7:36 AM Jonathan Lighter <
> wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> > >
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > Now it means "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon":
> > > >
> > https://www.foxnews.com/us/mosul-orb-us-silent-ufo-filmed-military-iraq
> > > >
> > > > This may have to do with the 2022 creation of the Pentagon’s
> > "All-domain
> > > > Anomaly Resolution Office," an expansion of the "Airborne Object
> > > > Identification and Management Group":
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3100053/dod-announces-the-establishment-of-the-all-domain-anomaly-resolution-office/
> > > >
> > > > There's the signpost up ahead....
> > > >
> > > > JL
> > > >
> > > > On Sun, Apr 16, 2023 at 12:23 PM Jonathan Lighter <
> > > wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > To judge from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's discussion with Jake Tapper
> > on
> > > > > CNN's "State of the Union" today, there's a strong connotational
> > > > difference
> > > > > between "UAP" and "UFO."
> > > > >
> > > > > "UFO" implies "might well be from outer space." "UAP" implies
> "might
> > > well
> > > > > be Russian or Chinese." Gillibrand cited 171 cases reviewed by DoD
> in
> > > the
> > > > > past two years that have resisted specialist analysis.
> > > > >
> > > > > She referred to the need to know "what these aircraft are" and
> > whether
> > > > > we're being spied on "by our adversaries."
> > > > >
> > > > > Yet whether UFO or UAP, the "unidentified" remain unidentified.
> > > > >
> > > > > JL
> > > > >
> > > > > On Thu, Apr 13, 2023 at 4:39 PM Jonathan Lighter <
> > > wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> > > > >
> > > > > wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > >> Not in my existing thread. I must have trashed it somehow.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> JL
> > > > >>
> > > > >> On Thu, Apr 13, 2023 at 3:39 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > > > >>
> > > > >>> Garson provided that cite info in the original thread in October:
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>>
> > > >
> > >
> >
> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2022-October/162459.html
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> Also included in my February Twitter thread (with a hat tip to
> > > Garson):
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> https://twitter.com/bgzimmer/status/1626924403622543362
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> On Thu, Apr 13, 2023 at 3:31 PM Jonathan Lighter <
> > > > wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> > > > >>> >
> > > > >>> wrote:
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> > Update: the 1958 "UAP" is  from Avram Davidson's story, "The
> > > Grantha
> > > > >>> > Sighting," in the April, 1958, ish of _Fantasy and Science
> > > Fiction_,
> > > > >>> p. 58:
> > > > >>> >
> > > > >>> >
> > > > >>> >
> > > > >>>
> > > >
> > >
> >
> https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v014n04_1958-04_PDF/page/n47/mode/2up?q=sightings
> > > > >>> >
> > > > >>> > JL
> > > > >>> >
> > > > >>> > On Sun, Oct 23, 2022 at 10:33 AM Jonathan Lighter <
> > > > >>> wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > > > >>> > wrote:
> > > > >>> >
> > > > >>> > > Thanks, Garson.  And many thanks for ID'ing the month and
> page.
> > > > >>> > >
> > > > >>> > > I was a saucer buff from 1965 to the late '70s and read all I
> > > could
> > > > >>> find
> > > > >>> > > on the subject that wasn't totally screwball. I must confess,
> > > > though,
> > > > >>> > that
> > > > >>> > > when the Navy used "UAP" when it released UFO footage in
> 2017,
> > > the
> > > > >>> acro
> > > > >>> > > seemed novel.
> > > > >>> > >
> > > > >>> > > Of course, "aerial phenomenon" is a more objective
> description
> > > than
> > > > >>> > > "flying object."
> > > > >>> > >
> > > > >>> > > In my day, the acronym was so rarely employed that it never
> > fully
> > > > >>> > > registered on me. Rereading some of the exx. above, I'm sure
> > I'd
> > > > have
> > > > >>> > > thought it no more than a marginal eccentricity. It doesn't
> > seem
> > > to
> > > > >>> > appear,
> > > > >>> > > for example, in Ron Story's extensive _UFO Encyclopedia_
> > (1980).
> > > > >>> > >
> > > > >>> > > It seems likely that Davidson (a prominent sf writer) was the
> > > > >>> originator.
> > > > >>> > >
> > > > >>> > >
> > > >
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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