Re: OT: Slang, curses and vulgarities

From:    Tristan McLeay <conlang@...>
> I'm not sure what Aktionsart is in spite of the many attempts at
> explanations I've read, but 'he's kicking ass' is more than perfectly
> acceptible when one isn't literally applying one's foot forcefully onto
> someone's posterior
Aktionsart refers to the lexical semantic properties of verbs
with respect to tense.  There are usually considered to be
four classes:  accomplishments, states, achievements, and
activities.  Those aren't very helpful names, but for our
purposes 'to kick ass' falls into the class of verbs, like
'know', that can only take regular present tense morphology,
not progressive morphology.  (This is one of the most common
errors found in L2 English speakers, and one of the most
difficult to acquire.) For more info, I would refer you to
the book on _Aspect_ in the Cambridge series.

> > I would not say that "shit" or "fuck" are particularly
> > different in effect for me; both fall into the small category
> > of "four-letter words".  [...]
>
> I cannot believe you're likening 'shit' to 'fuck'. In my use and
> experience, it's not much worse than 'stuff'. Obviously it varies in
> intensity...
Well, believe it.  They have not been bleached of emotional
content for everyone in this world...

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Thomas Wier	       "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally,
Dept. of Linguistics    because our secret police don't get it right
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