...and I meant to add, to jump into the fray here, that on July 31 I received this email with the subject "twee: Word of the Day":
The Word of the Day for Aug 01 is:
twee \TWEE\ adjective
chiefly British : affectedly or excessively dainty, delicate, cute, or quaint
Example sentence: Thatched-roof birdhouses with posies in the windows are a bit too twee for Annalese, who doesn't go in much for cutesiness.
Did you know? Most adults wouldn't be caught dead saying, "Oh, look at the tweet 'ittle birdie!" (at least not to anyone over the age of three), but they probably wouldn't be averse to saying, "He went fishing with his dad," "She >works as a nanny," or "Hey, buddy, how's it going?" >Anyone who uses "dad," "nanny," or "buddy" owes a debt >to "baby talk," a term used for both the childish >speech adults adopt when addressing youngsters and for >the speech of small children who are just learning to >talk. "Twee" also originated in baby talk, as an >alteration of "sweet." In the early 1900s, it was a >term of affection, but nowadays British speakers and >writers, and, increasingly, Americans as well, use >"twee" for things that have passed beyond agreeable >and into the realm of cloying.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence."
what I find interesting about this commentary on the word--apart from finding it in my inbox instead of in my Sinister folder--is that it even mentions Americans' use of the word. in my experience, fewer Americans know "twee" than they do most other British-isms. I think, like any other description, "twee" can be used in a critical and negative way, as in the last part of that definition. however, I think it can be used with affection--though not affected affection or cloying affection, I suppose. just a touch of twee-ness might be good for everyone. wouldn't want to have too much twee, you might find it hard to stand up. laurel "going to bed now" lemming __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-+ Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+