veyd

veyd t1_jdtj7ga wrote

I'm sure if you live in Paramus or work in retail it's nice that the malls close on Sunday... but as someone who can't remember that last time he went to the mall for any reason, but sure does remember the last time he showed up at the Teterboro Costco on a Sunday and saw all those ridiculous "you can't buy this product because of Bergen County Blue Laws" signs, rolled his eyes, walked out and drove to Clifton... I'd sign this. They're obnoxious.

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veyd t1_j7h4bqf wrote

This is a laughably awful take.

Historians can give you enormous lists of words that have changed meanings over time, starting with an influential local colloquial meaning that spread to the rest of the speakers of that language. This is how dialects and, eventually, new languages are born. How do you think the Romance languages emerged from Latin?

Awful and awesome, for instance, used to be synonyms, and awesome meaning “great” was a relatively recent linguistic change. Meaning of the word cool changing due to slang usage is another obvious example.

These changes start with individuals using words and phrases in different ways, and those changes being spread by word of mouth. People can, do and historically have changed the meaning of words.

In short, /u/brownredgreen - what you just typed was one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever read. Everyone in this thread is now dumber for having read it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

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veyd t1_j7gwy3i wrote

Irrelevant to the discussion. The statement was that the term has started to only to be used in a manner that excludes neighborhoods close to Manhattan, not what the dictionary has to say about it.

Language is ever evolving. Describing it in terms of “right and wrong” is only useful academically.

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veyd t1_j7gq2gj wrote

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veyd t1_j7g2npi wrote

Colloquially, outer Burroughs has started to be used in a way that excludes easy to get to portions of the non Manhattan Burroughs. No one thinks of Williamsburg or Long Island City as “the outer Burroughs.”

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