Comments for Arnold Zwicky's Blog

Comment on dinks by mollymooly

mollymooly — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:28:42 +0000

Urban Dictionary is all over this. Amazingly definition #33 invokes Ding and Californication.

Comment on Short shot #20: California + ify by mollymooly

mollymooly — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:27:41 +0000

If the fifth most plausible proposed etymology of "California" is correct, then both -forn- components come from the same root. cf another 90s rock album, "Pornograffitti".

Comment on Cheese or font? The sequel by John Cowan

John Cowan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:45:49 +0000

"I still remember that Emphyteusis is not a disease, nor Stillicide a crime." --R.L.S., "An Apology for Idlers"

Comment on Short shot #20: California + ify by Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:01:38 +0000

This is obviously related to Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Californication, isn’t it?

Comment on Short shot #20: California + ify by John Lawler

John Lawler — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:44:52 +0000

Goes back at least to the Tom Lehrer era. The pun on ‘fornicate’ is too tempting.

Comment on Short shot #20: California + ify by Eyoki

Eyoki — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:51:52 +0000

Ah, I see someone’s suggested it already!

Comment on Short shot #20: California + ify by Eyoki

Eyoki — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:50:22 +0000

Californicate?

Comment on Short shot #20: California + ify by Jonathan Lundell

Jonathan Lundell — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:45:09 +0000

As you might expect, the Ghit champ appears to be Californicate and its variations.

Comment on Avoiding the gubernatorial taboo word by Do Profanity Filters Dream of Philip K. Dick? « Sentence first

Do Profanity Filters Dream of Philip K. Dick? « Sentence first — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:24:46 +0000

[...] and frak. These terms lose in force what they gain in public acceptability. Newspapers still have no consensus on how to convey the word “fuck”, reflecting the mixed attitudes of their readers to its [...]

Comment on dampen down by arnoldzwicky

arnoldzwicky — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:56:36 +0000

To mollymooly: ouch. I should have checked. But thanks.

The older usage and style labels in the OED are undependable at best. Sometimes they seem to be nothing more than staff hunches.