Re: The Soap Opera Hypothesis


Ron Hardin wrote:
There are compound nouns, like whistleblower and gatekeeper and
wrongdoing, that you hear only on the news.

I think this is because they play roles in soap opera.

And the news is aimed at soap opera junkies.

You could probably mark the year it started from these words.

--
Ron Hardin
rhhardin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

I looked up 'gatekeeper' in the OED (you probably should have done this
first). I get dates of 1572, 1712, 1845, etc. I think it predates
soap operas. I don't think your "hypothesis" stands up.

John

.

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