Good grief,

I still cringe if I hear myself slip into using "disrespect" as a verb since it was only a noun for most of my life. This morning I found this in my inbox:


"dis (dis) verb tr., also diss

To show disrespect for.

[Of uncertain origin, apparently a shortening of disrespect.]

"Lumka cringes when she realises the customer she dissed is in fact
Karabo, the owner of the bar and her employer."
On The Small Screen; Post (South Africa); Jun 2, 2004.

"After dissing the victims, Jerry Sensitive led the regents in a
ringing defense of the four CU officials whose lax supervision may
have contributed to the scandal."
Bob Ewegen; 'Dear Old Sleaze U'; Denver Post (Colorado); May 22,
2004.

This week's theme: words to highlight rankism"


The "Word of the Day" provider I'm signed up with sent the preceding as this morning's daily installment so it's not as if the word (word?!) has actually been legitimized by Merriam Webster yet. It probably will be though. Didn't they validate the pseudo-word "McJob" recently?

The only reason this grabs my attention is beause I must be getting old and set in my ways. I also remember when certain politicians and educators were promoting "ebonics."

-- XXOO Tanya