Slash slash grammar lol

[Philip Chee]

[[Another recent grammatical change is the transformation of LOL. In a
casual reply like �lol, i hear you�, actual laughter is probably not
occurring. What began as an abbreviation meaning �laughing out loud� (or
�lots of love�) is losing this explicit meaning and now frequently
serves as a pragmatic particle marking empathy and a shared frame of
reference, according to linguist John McWhorter.
]]

<http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/lol-slash-grammar-knowmsayin>


8 Symbols That We Turned Into Words

The symbols we use also have names: dollar sign, treble clef, asterisk,
etc. But sometimes the name for a symbol takes on a different sort of
meaning, so that it is no longer a name, but a word in its own right.
Here are eight words that started as symbols.

<http://mentalfloss.com/article/50380/8-symbols-we-turned-words>

I have to say though I associate BLANKETY BLANK with Terry Wogan than
anything else.

Phil

--
Philip Chee <phi...@aleytys.pc.my>, <phili...@gmail.com>
http://flashblock.mozdev.org/ http://xsidebar.mozdev.org
Guard us from the she-wolf and the wolf, and guard us from the thief,
oh Night, and so be good for us to pass.

[Alan Woodford]

On Sat, 18 May 2013 13:44:19 +0800, Philip Chee <phi...@aleytys.pc.my>
wrote:

>[[Another recent grammatical change is the transformation of LOL. In a

>casual reply like �lol, i hear you�, actual laughter is probably not
>occurring. What began as an abbreviation meaning �laughing out loud� (or
>�lots of love�) is losing this explicit meaning and now frequently

>serves as a pragmatic particle marking empathy and a shared frame of
>reference, according to linguist John McWhorter.
>]]
>
><http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/lol-slash-grammar-knowmsayin>
>
>
>8 Symbols That We Turned Into Words
>
>The symbols we use also have names: dollar sign, treble clef, asterisk,
>etc. But sometimes the name for a symbol takes on a different sort of
>meaning, so that it is no longer a name, but a word in its own right.
>Here are eight words that started as symbols.
>
><http://mentalfloss.com/article/50380/8-symbols-we-turned-words>
>
>I have to say though I associate BLANKETY BLANK with Terry Wogan than
>anything else.

I hate to break it to you Phil, but that means you are old :-)

I agree though - I'm used to seeing "blanking" used in the sense the
article refers to, but Blankety Blank will always bring to my mind the
Sir Terry I haven't drunk beer with.

Alan Woodford
The Greying Lensman

[Kevrob]

He might be QUITE old: acc. to:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/blankety-blank {Random House
Dictionary}

..the term has origins in the late 19th century.

I'd heard it in my youth, in the States, well before Mr Wogan's game
show ever aired.

Thanks

[Alan Woodford]

On Sat, 18 May 2013 06:43:07 -0700 (PDT), Kevrob <kev...@my-deja.com>
wrote:

I'm pretty sure I'd come across it before the game show, probably in
American books.

But Mr Wogan made the phrase incredibly well known over here, at least
amongst people of a certain age range. What the kids today make of it,
I have absolutely no idea :-)

[Kevrob]

On May 19, 1:35 pm, Alan Woodford <al...@bortas.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> On Sat, 18 May 2013 06:43:07 -0700 (PDT),Kevrob<kev...@my-deja.com>

I can remember when Roddy Doyle's "The Commitments" was released as a
film, having to explain to Mah Fellow Merkins just who the "Terry"
that Jimmy Rabbitte was talking to actually was - "It's like he's
pretending to be interviewed by Johnny Carson." Somehow I knew who TW
was, without ever having seen or heard a minute of his "programmes."
His name would come up so often in UK fiction and journalism I was
reading at the time that I learned it by osmosis.


Kevin