[Ads-l] Curious OED Entry for "Styling"

[Dennis During]

It's a constant battle at Wiktionary to eliminate 'adjective' sections that
duplicate noun sections in their semamtics. The battles have left some
habits of thought with me.

Dennis C. During

On Mon, Jun 29, 2026, 20:40 Shapiro, Fred <
00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> Before I posted, I thought about whether "styling" in the OED "Additional
> Sense" was an attributive noun.  But if you look at the OED citations for
> that sense, you will see that in two of the cites "styling" is modified by
> "very" or "so".  I think that, in the OED definition and at least four of
> the five citations, "styling" reads adjectively rather than attributively.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Dennis During <00001bcaf94bd005-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Monday, June 29, 2026 4:21 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: Curious OED Entry for "Styling"
>
> Are they referring to attributive use of the noun? "Styling" isnt a true
> adjective, eg, not readily modified by 'too' or 'very'.
>
> Dennis C. During
>
> On Mon, Jun 29, 2026, 11:37 Shapiro, Fred <
> 00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> > There is something that strikes me as curious about the OED entry for
> > "styling, noun."  There is an "Additional Sense" meaning "fashionable or
> > stylish."  Isn't this an adjective rather than a noun?  All of the
> > citations use the word as an adjective.
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
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