tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33159158.post3527862050376472955..comments2024-02-25T20:07:56.114-06:00Comments on Mr. Verb: Curses that come true, and those that don'tMr. Verbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04048931596146402872noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33159158.post-26690938801779933032007-06-12T11:40:00.000-05:002007-06-12T11:40:00.000-05:00Yeah, it's just hard to believe at some level, and...Yeah, it's just hard to believe at some level, and pretty depressing.Mr. Verbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04048931596146402872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33159158.post-12061178251365214472007-06-12T11:29:00.000-05:002007-06-12T11:29:00.000-05:00Safire likes to use first dates in the OED as proo...Safire likes to use first dates in the OED as proof of the actual birth date of a word.<BR/><BR/>See the post on this very blog from a few weeks ago regarding "you're welcome."<BR/><BR/>It's just lazy scholarship. Well it's not even scholarship. It's just lazy.Wishydighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06141057866370676641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33159158.post-81831760799131616532007-06-10T20:31:00.000-05:002007-06-10T20:31:00.000-05:00And then there was this:The source [of 'hottie/hot...And then there was this:<BR/><BR/><I>The source </I>[of 'hottie/hotty']<I> is probably American. It was popularized in 1987 in the song “Go See the Doctor,” by the hip-hop artist Kool Moe Dee.</I><BR/><BR/>1987? I doubt that. I also doubt that it's peculiarly American. I haven't got any evidence for this whatsoever, but I'd have thought that the extension of 'hot' to matters aesthetic was primary, after which it was further extended (or broadened, if you prefer) to excellence in any field. I think both of these senses predate Kool Moe Dee by a long shot.<BR/><BR/>Ah, I see now where he got that. It's the first quotation listed in the OED, which he appears to equate with the 'originator' of the use.<BR/><BR/>I see also that it refers to 'hottie' as a hot-water bottle, as its primary sense no less. This is probably why Safire puts in that whole paragraph on where <I>hottie</I> began. Does he intend to imply that a <I>hottie</I> as in a good-looking person is derived from a hot-water bottle? Even mediocre users of a dictionary know <I>that's</I> a fallacy.<BR/><BR/>That's sloppy journalism.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33159158.post-6153273666106137932007-06-10T15:09:00.000-05:002007-06-10T15:09:00.000-05:00Yeah, well, isn't that typical. It's hard to be TH...Yeah, well, isn't that typical. It's hard to be THIS wrong THIS often if you're not trying.Mr. Verbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04048931596146402872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33159158.post-26180375708149527392007-06-10T14:33:00.000-05:002007-06-10T14:33:00.000-05:00Interesting side note to Safire's claims. I'll pro...Interesting side note to Safire's claims. I'll provide the relevant snippets from Safire's piece and Barrett's response on his own blog.<BR/><BR/>Safire:<BR/><I>Hottie is not spelled with a y because -ie, the lexicographer Grant Barrett informs me, 'is a classic diminutive or hypocoristic ending used for terms of endearment'</I><BR/><BR/>Barrett's response:<BR/><I>The part in quotations is indeed what I told him and his lexical assistant, Juliet Mohnkern, but what comes before I did not say, because <B>both</B> -y <B>and</B> -ie are classic diminutive and hypocoristic endings, with -y being more common.</I><BR/><BR/>(emphases is Barrett's)<BR/><BR/>Is Safire <I>trying</I> for incompetence?Wishydighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06141057866370676641noreply@blogger.com