Date: Fri, 19 May 1995 12:54:40 EDT

From: Larry Horn LHORN[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]YALEVM.CIS.YALE.EDU

Subject: Re: 1995 Candidates "Word of the Year"



I have a query concerning the extended use of a word that isn't a WOY candidate

per se, but does seem to have diffused widely through a specific generation.

(Can we speak of an aetatolect? a cohortolect? a synchrolect? Is there some

term for a dialect associated with a particular generation?) The generation in

question is the soi-disant "Generation X" and the word is "extreme", as used in

various TV shows, films, and advertising. I don't have a sense of what the ex-

tended uses comprise--whether there's a real extension or just a fad of usage--

but I'm prompted to ask by a journalist at ESPN, whose network sponsors some-

thing called the Extreme Games and wants to do a piece on the, er, synchrolect

feature it involves.



Larry