[Ads-l] "slay" (adj.)

[Amy West]

On 12/5/23 12:00 AM, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
> Date:    Mon, 4 Dec 2023 18:22:08 +0100
> From:    Z Sohna<zrice3714 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Re: "slay" (adj.)
>
> Actually, one should reach "that far" for the semantic extension and when
> considering the potential points of origin for speech in the United States
> (and those countries assimilated by the US). If one can regularly look to
> the languages of Europe (or elsewhere) for points of origin without it
> being considered "reach[ing] that far," then why should the African
> languages be off-limits or considered going too "far"? This is a rhetorical
> question on my part.

That's a valid point, and I'm not an etymologist or a semantitician 
(sp?), so I'm not sure how far back one needs to look for either word 
form or use.


>
> Also, regarding the statement:
>
>      The use of/murder/  as a synonym for/devour/  is in my personal lexicon,
>      but the senses of "doing something in an excellent way" aren't.
>
> Even if it were in your lexicon, its usage on your part would not serve as
> an indicator of a non-African origin for a given word or phrase in the
> United States (or in the UK, where people are highly influenced/assimilated
> by US speech and broader culture). Caucasians and other non-members in the
> US and elsewhere actively employ Africanisms in their everyday speech - not
> unlike the "white" populations of Brazil and other countries in the
> Americas.


Yup, that's another valid point. My statement regarding my lexicon is 
only relevant to . . . my lexicon.

---Amy West


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