Monday, November 27, 2006

technical lovers love this:

i ran into (not literally) this technical blurb about fred durst, who was criticized for his use of agreeance in 2003. i found this as i was about to use the word in my critique of rhetorical theory. im really beginning to love the technical aspects of life; said article:

Oxford Editor: Fred Durst's Use Of 'Agreeance' Was Right
Dictionary Says Word Is Obsolete

POSTED: 9:26 am PST March 7, 2003

Whether you agree or not, the North American editor of the Oxford English Dictionary says Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst's use of the word "agreeance" was correct at the Grammys last month.

Fred DurstDurst was widely mocked and criticized by major media outlets for his apparent lack of grammatical skills when he said onstage, "I just hope we are in agreeance that this war should go away as soon as possible."

Jesse Sheidlower told the New York Observer that "agreeance" is a word and Durst used it correctly. Sheidlower told the Observer that the dictionary defnes "agreeance" as "the act of agreeing; agreement."

The editor did, however, say, that the word is not in heavy circulation. According to the Observer, the earliest Oxford English Dictionary example of the word is circa 1540, and that the latest example of its usage dates back to 1714.

The dictionary now says the word is obsolete.

"This is not a current word," Sheidlower told the paper. And it is "not a common word."

Now that Sheidlower has shed light on Durst's correct usage of the word, the singer said in the Observer, "I'm glad someone took the time to find out the truth."

The Observer said the word is still widely used in Australia, and that it pops up in legal documents here from time to time. The paper also said former Sen. Bob Kerry, D-Neb., included it in testimony about the IRS in 1997 before the House Ways and Means Committee.

"We are encouraged by the administration's agreeance that the IRS must change," Kerry testified, according to the Observer

1 comment:

Rachel said...

Fred Durst is probably way smarter than I am.