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Yours Truly on CNN

Beard on CNNCNN.com is carrying an op ed piece by me on the way words went in 2010. Click here to read about the new words and new usages that appeared over the course of the year. Tea Party strikes me as the most abused phrase of the year for reasons I lay out in the piece.

2 Responses to “Yours Truly on CNN”

  1. JT Sheerin Says:

    Nice piece, interesting. I’ve noticed, too, people using reticent to mean hesitant. PS: Nonce words are clearly words used for the occasion. But in AmE, does nonce also have the meaning of paedophile, as it does in BrE?

  2. Robert Beard Says:

    No, it doesn’t to my knowledge. I received a comment to that effect on the CNN site, too. I presume the far more long-standing linguistic use of the word takes precedence over this euphemistic use. But I wonder where it comes from? What is the connection between pedophilia and a nonce?

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