[lit-ideas] Re: Thursday Thing (no hope for Sunday this week)
- From: Robert Paul <rpaul@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:36:54 -0800
John McCreery wrote
Just to muddle the waters further, in my dialect "pretty good," "pretty
bad," "pretty deep," "pretty shallow" imply moderation in the quality in
question. E.g., "She's pretty good" can imply "Yes, she's got talent,
though she's not a real super star." "That part of the river is pretty
deep" says, "Yes, it may not be the deepest part what but the water,
yes, it's deep."
It's hard to tell from the printed screen what the expression suggests.
In my mind's ear I can hear its meaning 'She's (e.g.) a better tennis
player than you might think, so don't take her lightly,' or 'Yeah, she's
OK, but not in your league.' The meaning falls out of stress and
intonation. In the first case, I hear 'She's pretty GOOD,' and in the
second, 'She's p-r-e-t-t-y good,' followed by an implied but unspoken
'although,' 'but,' or 'however.'
Robert Paul,
hearing things
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