Born-Again Clones

Abstract

T HE TERMS and clone, which have appeared in media with increased frequency in recent years, have acquired new meanings that demonstrate how media persons, who may be viewed as lexical avant-garde of contemporary American English, produce semantic change via language play. According OED (1: 1003), phrase again has been in language since 1382: WyclifJohn iii.3 But a man schal be agen. It was listed as a subentry in Noah Webster's American Dictionary of English Language (1828), where it was defined as to be regenerated and renewed; receive spiritual life. John iii. The phrase continued be listed as a subentry in other precursors Webster's Third (Goodrich and Porter 1875, Harris and Allen 1913, Neilson and Knott 1934). However, again was eliminated from Webster's Third (Gove 1961). Why? Perhaps answer lies in fact that in early 1960s again did not have sufficient currency be included, even as a subentry, in Webster's Third, for at that time phrase was used almost exclusively by Baptists. However, again was born again, this time as a hyphenated adjective, as a result of several major political and social events. The term began gain wide currency throughout nation in late 1960s as a result of civil-rights campaign. In 1976, was given a further boost by election of Jimmy Carter, a selfacknowledged Baptist, as President of United States and by popularity of confessional best seller Born Again, which was written by convicted Watergate offender Charles Colson (Wills 1979, p. 154). By 1978, had achieved such currency that it was added The World Book Dictionary (a lexicon that is revised yearly in order keep abreast of living language), where it was defined as follows: adj. U.S. believing in personal conversion as a way salvation through Christ; evangelical. Born-again is currently used not only as an adjective describing one who has accepted Christ, but also in media refer one who has been reborn or revitalized in any fashion, as following examples demonstrate. Rodney Dangerfield, who resumed his career as a comedian at age of 40, was characterized by Chicago Tribune (20 July 1980, sec. 6, p. 1) as the comic. Author Howard Fast, who was an admitted Communist in 1950, by spring of 1980 had become a born-again yankee (People Weekly, 7 Apr. 1980, p. 119). An article in