LINGUIST List 3.95

Fri 31 Jan 1992

Disc: Intensifiers

Editor for this issue: <>

Directory

1. Thomas E Payne, 3.084 "way" etc.
2. "Bruce E. Nevin", big time

Here's data from an 11 year old in Eugene, Oregon.
"way" is an intensifier for any adjective (in elicitation), e.g. "way tall",
"way dorky", etc. However, the only usages observed in discourse are "way
cool" (=good) and "way dead" (= in trouble, e.g., with parents).
"Way" is also an interjection with the sense of "great!", or "wow!"
"toast" meaning to be physically hurt is majorly unattested. The nearest
equivalent is "dead", which isn't limited to physical difficulties.
"Majorly" is standard, isn't it?

"Big time" has been around for many years, along with its perhaps more
familiar antonym "small time," as in "he's just a small-time thug."
I have always understood it as coming from gangster jargon and referring
to doing time in the pen (penitentiary).

	Bruce Nevin
	bnbbn.com