[Lexicog] When is an "in" word """in"""?

[Peter Kirk]

On 24/07/2004 09:06, Fritz Goerling wrote:

> No sweat, Peter, you got it sussed!
>
> I found it "cool" when Manchester United beat my home town soccer club
> Bayern Munich
> by 2 to 1 after the Germans led them by one goal before the last
> minute of the game,
> and then MU equalized and scored the winning goal a few seconds later.
> I did not like it
> but had to admit that that was "cool" or "eiskalt" (= ice-cold), as we
> say in German. It
> comes close to "merciless" and is said of a "professional" who wins.
> Another example is how Lance Armstrong is winning this year's Tour de
> France:
> eiskalt, cool, merciless.


Well, maybe, but I can't imagine any England supporter saying it was
"cool" when much the same happened in our match against France a few
weeks ago. At least here "cool" does not mean "merciless", although
"cold" and especially "cold-blooded" mean "unemotional" and often
"merciless". "Cool" may mean "effortless" and might be used to describe
a particularly elegantly executed goal (though more likely for one's own
team!), but that's different.


--
Peter Kirk
peter at qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk at qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/




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