Date:  Tue, 19 Dec 1995 14:48:24 -0600

From:  "Kathleen M. O'Neill" <koneil1[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UIC.EDU>

Subject: Re: "harsh" as woty



>I don't know about a word of the year, but the word

>of the year (student slang?) with my 17-year-old daughter is

>"harsh" as an adjectival intensifier in a positive sense.

>Is this local, off tv, out of a movie, or what?



In a positive sense? Hmm. That's interesting.

My friends all use the adjective with some frequency,

but for them (and for me) it is negative, but in a

hip way.



For example,

Friend A: Did you see that girl he's with?

Friend B: Yeah -- not a looker, huh?

Friend A: Not a looker?! She looks like the poster

    child for Crack Babies...

Friend B: Oh, man! That's *way* harsh!



And speaking of "way" -- I'd have to say that that

particular word has gained widespread usage in the

past couple of years as an adverb. Maybe not WOTY,

but definitely a novel lexical entry. =^]



;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

;Kathleen M. O'Neill ... Language Laboratory Technician I  ;

;koneil1[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]uic.edu ... u55354[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]uicvm.cc.uic.edu        ;

;:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::;

;University of Illinois at Chicago ... Language Laboratory ;

;703 South Morgan Street (M/C 042) ... Grant Hall, Room 311 ;

;Chicago, IL 60607-7025                  ;

;312.996.8838 or 8836 ... 312.996.5501 FAX        ;

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;