Abstract #2: Good: A Range Marker in American Discourse

This abstract is part of the Abstract Showcase, a continuously updated feature of the LGSA blog.
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Name: Linguistics graduate student, class of 2009
Presentation Date: April 7, 2009
Paper Title: Good: A Range Marker in American Discourse
Department: English, with emphasis on Linguistics

ABSTRACT:
This paper investigates a new use of good in contemporary American discourse in which good denotes a minimum estimation with an implied range. The speaker formulates this expression by combining good with an immediately following numerical amount and noun phrase, egs, “a good thirty minutes, a good hundred people, a good fifteen pounds.” Used in this pattern, good signals an estimation which includes a minimum and a predicted range over the amount stated. The amount is gauged within a range of the actual quantity. Occurrences describe a variety of count and non-count nouns. Good is contrasted with the expression “a lot of.” Predictions for use do not combine the range marker good with intensifiers or negation. Environments in which an exact amount is known or measured are not compatible with the use of the range good.

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