On 4/25/07, Michael Perelman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Everyone wants to be sophisticated, but only the rich can decide what constitutes sophistication. Rich people are stylish, but designers for the rich scour the haunts of the poor to find inspiration for new styles. What follows suggests that the rich can even decide what words to use & when the non-rich catch on, the rich change the rules again. Lyall, Sarah. 2007. "Why Can.t the English Just Give Up That Class Folderol?" New York Times (26 April).
Freakonomics has a chapter on baby names and how they get adopted first by the social elite and eventually become commonplace enough to lose their appeal etc. http://slate.com/id/2116505/ (The authors somehow consider this phenomenon as a validation of economics wisdom, but I fail to see the connection.) -raghu.
