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I have been trying to think of words that have the property of taking on a new meaning when they are repeated. I have some examples of this: back-back, meaning the furthest row of seats in the car, like-like, meaning have romantic feelings, home-home, as in your original residence (if you are in college when you go to your parents house, hometown, etc.).
I was wondering if anyone saw any patterns behind why some words can take on these new meanings? Or had any other examples?
Sometimes one makes nice-nice erven though they don't feel kingly....
Do you want a glass glass, or will a plastic tumbler do?
Tea party members call themselves conservatives, but Ike Eisenhower was a conservative conservative.
He said he bought as green car, but I didn't realize it was a green green.
A story from graduate school at the University of Missouri - Rolla (now, Missouri University of Science and Technology):
A post doc was hired in the lab next door. He most recently came from Rhode Island but was born in Cuba and emigrated as a toddler to Venezuela when Castro came to power. He went to change his driver's license. When the Highway Patrolman asked for place of birth, Rafael answered, "Cuba." The patrolman started to write down, "Cuba, Missouri" since it is only about 20 miles from Rolla. Rafael corrected him with, "No, Cuba." The patrolman responded, "You mean Cuba-Cuba?!"
Reduplication is a common way of emphasizing or indicating the literal meaning of a phrase when an extended meaning or figurative meaning is possible (contrastive focus reduplication). There was a huge, huge crowd of people. I've been to many weddings, but that was a wedding wedding.
Here is a (favorite) recent commercial that charmingly uses contrastive focus reduplication.
Drive stick
Having said that, there are also some great examples where reduplication does even more interesting things. The archetype is not. Doubling not can nuance or reverse the meaning.
A: He's not handsome.
B: He is not not handsome.
A related old saw involves sure. As the joke goes:
Professor: There are many languages in which a double negative results in a positive, but there is no example of a language in which a double positive results in a negative."
Student: Sure, sure.
[edit: added the following]
Hear, hear! is another great example of reduplication with new meaning. Note that Hear, hear! is the historical version, while Here, here! is commonly seen as well.
EmmettRedd said
A story from graduate school at the University of Missouri - Rolla (now, Missouri University of Science and Technology):
A post doc was hired in the lab next door. He most recently came from Rhode Island but was born in Cuba and emigrated as a toddler to Venezuela when Castro came to power. He went to change his driver's license. When the Highway Patrolman asked for place of birth, Rafael answered, "Cuba." The patrolman started to write down, "Cuba, Missouri" since it is only about 20 miles from Rolla. Rafael corrected him with, "No, Cuba." The patrolman responded, "You mean Cuba-Cuba?!"
I once did an exhaustive search of the US Geological Survey's database and discovered that there are three "populated places" in the US with actual names like that. Most people can come up with "New York, New York". The other two are "Maine, Maine" and "Wyoming, Wyoming".
Ron Draney said
I once did an exhaustive search of the US Geological Survey's database and discovered that there are three "populated places" in the US with actual names like that. Most people can come up with "New York, New York". The other two are "Maine, Maine" and "Wyoming, Wyoming".
Isn't it really "New York City, New York"?
Martha Barnette
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