Talk:horrible

horrible
"A thing that causes horror; a terrifying thing." Kappa 04:15, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Has to be usable as a noun, otherwise it could not have a plural, without which the well-worn legal reference to a "parade of horribles" could not exist. bd2412 T 18:14, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Here's a parade of examples of use as a noun in the plural:
 * Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson, A Woman Tenderfoot (2005) p. 125:
 * If it does not appeal to you as one of the horribles in life, try it once.
 * Owen West, Four Days to Veracruz: A Novel (2003) p. 240:
 * For all the horribles that his legs and feet endured, they weren't the root cause of his suffering.
 * Christopher Chambers, A Prayer for Deliverance: An Angela Bivens Thriller (2003) p. 772:
 * There're tangible horribles out there, honey.
 * Neil K. Komesar, Law's Limits: The Rule of Law and the Supply and Demand of Rights (2001) p. 51:
 * Many scholars have demonstrated these horribles and contemplated significant limitations on class actions.
 * Alastair Scott, Tracks Across Alaska: A Dog Sled Journey (1991) p. 1:
 * The pot had previously simmered skate wings, cods' heads, whales, pigs' hearts and a long litany of other horribles.
 * United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, The Genocide Convention: Hearing Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate (1982) p. 70:
 * A lot of the possible horribles conjured up by the people objecting to this convention ignore the plain language of this treaty.
 * Otis L. Graham, Jr., Toward a Planned Society: from Roosevelt to Nixon (1976) p. 62:
 * Congressmen talked of tyranny, and other imaginary horribles, and one vigilant member opposed the six administrative assistants on the ground that they would be "theoretical intellectualprofessorial nincompoops."
 * Ernest Way Elkington, Adrift in New Zealand (1906) p. 241:
 * I always like to get over the horribles first, so that the good things of life may leave the last impression.
 * Herman Melville, Moby Dick (1851):
 * Here's a carcase. I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing. Such a waggish leering as lurks in all your horribles!
 * For what it's worth, there were many other references to "horribles and antiques" or to a literal "parade of horribles", which reference the use of "horribles" to describe people in a procession costumed as horrible things (this sense should be added). bd2412 T 18:58, 4 March 2007 (UTC)


 * There's also an NPR interview with John Dean where Dean says "I would raise one horrible after another, and explaining the criminal consequences of what was happening." I can't seem to find a link to this, although I'm sure NPR interview transcripts are durably archived somewhere. bd2412 T 19:17, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Aha, he said something very similar on CNN (here's the transcript):
 * John Dean: I'm trying to convince him that the criminal behavior that's going on at the White House has to end. And I give him one horrible after the next. I just keep raising them. He sort of swats them away.
 * bd2412 T 19:25, 4 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I’ve always considered the noun use of horrible to be a Gallicism, because you hear it often from the French Cajuns in Louisiana. In a recent TV series, a Cajun remarks: "This muggy November weather gives me the horribles.". —Stephen 19:41, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Well, indeed, it appears from the cites I came across that a parade of horribles has long been a common feature of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. This usage is fairly similar to the usage of the word grotesque as a noun which means a piece of architecture in a particular style. bd2412 T 01:33, 5 March 2007 (UTC)


 * RFVpassed. &mdash; Beobach972 04:35, 4 June 2007 (UTC)