This whole exchange is way tepid. If my recollection of Western NY winters
is correct, in Syracuse "that's cold" only means one thing: it's cold
(usually accompanied by 4 feet - pronounced "feeeet" - of lake effect snow).
Some people say "shiny" for what "cool" and "hot" used to mean (a gloss if
there ever was one). Thanks all for sharing the shiny Monday moment.
Walter Cybulski
Preservation & Coll Mgmt
NLM
-----Original Message-----
From: Eric v.d. Luft, Ph.D., M.L.S., Curator of Historical Collections
[mailto:lufte@upstate.edu]
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2004 9:21 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Re: Distributed: a new word
> I must respectfully disagree. "Cold" is not the linguistic successor
> to "cool." When Donkey says, "That's cold" to Shrek, it is not a
> compliment. The current correct word to demonstrate approbation (and
> my teen-age children confirm this), is "sweet." NB - When spoken, it
> should be pronounced "sweeeeet."
Steve is absolutely right. "That's cold" means "That's nasty, mean,
sneaky, cruel, or despicable." Moreover, at least in Syracuse, the
traditional "That's cool" is commonly expressed as either "That's hot"
or -- Surprise! -- "That's cool."
Cheers!
Eric
--
Eric v.d. Luft, Ph.D., M.L.S.
Curator of Historical Collections, Health Sciences Library Lecturer, Center
for Bioethics and Humanities SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY
13210 <http://web.upstate.edu/lufte/> -- 315-464-4585
Listowner: ALHHS-L <http://web.upstate.edu/lufte/alhhs-l.html>
Preferred e-mail address: <mailto:gegensatz@alumni.bowdoin.edu>
"Be always sure you're right, then go ahead."
-- Davy Crockett
[Autobiography, 1834, title page]