Re: RT list: Defending the Explicature

In a message dated 5/4/2008 2:24:52 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
andre.sytnyk@gmail.com writes:
the metonymy 'Greek' - 'someone who wears Greek letters on his/her t-shirt'.

----
I don't know. I thought it was  something deeper, as in Brasenose College in 
Oxford, where you felt like you  were being part of _something_ --. But then 
when I mention 'The Spartan Code'  someone thinks I'm asking for a telephone 
code for Laconia. We should inquire  _why_ Greek -- as opposed to, say Cyrilic, 
or Native American, or _runes_ -- we  chosen in the first place, and you'll 
probably find me saying something _right_.  Oddly, most sororities have "Lambda" 
which _may_ (but then may _not_) stand for  "Lesbos" which is back to where 
we started. What gives you the _right_ to wear  the t-shirt in case is the 
_pledge_. Since these varies from fraternity to  fraternity and are secret _to_ 
the fraternity, I would take,  "He's Greek"  <+ He is wearing a T-shirt with 
_three_ Greek letters on it as a mere case of  'natural', never 'non-natural' 
meaning, let alone an explicature.  
Note also that from the OED quotes, to use  "Greek-LETTER' (i.e. 
over-explicature, as I may want it) it's a mark of non-U. I  always loved Mitford 
reminding us that "He went to St. Michael's" is okay, but  "He went to St. Michael 
Hall" is _non-U_ and a natural meaning of the utterer  not belonging.  From the 
OED
"Greek letter fraternity, order, society (U.S.): a club of students,  denoted 
by two or three Greek letters; as the Phi Beta Kappa society." 
1888  BRYCE Amer. Commw. III. VI. cii. 454 
"The absence of colleges constituting social centres within a university  has 
helped to develop..the Greek letter societies" 
1894 H. H. GARDENER Unoff. Patriot x. 146 
"He encouraged them to join the..Greek letter orders which admitted  
discussion of such topics."
1898 B'ham Weekly Post 22 Jan. 3/4 
"This [Kansas] farmer was a Greek-letter fraternity man."
JL
The Swimming Pool Library
Villa Speranza, Bordighera
 
St. Michael Hall
Calle 58, No. 511, La Plata B1900
Buenos Aires, Argentina.
 
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