Topsy » top seed

Chiefly in:   grow like top seed

Classification: English – final d/t-deletion – idiom-related

Spotted in the wild:

  • “That’s what’s insidious about club drugs,” he says. “One: We didn’t recognize the problem. Two: It’s growing like top seed.” (Orlando Weekly, July 26, 2000)
  • The Amado Territory Ranch is anchored by an 11-room bed and breakfast inn, Amado Territory Inn, that has spectacular views and serene natural surroundings. The rest of the land was quickly leased by other vendors. “It just grew like top seed,” Art Gould said. (Arizona Daily Star, Jan. 5, 2004)
  • In fact, these grow ops, which are fuelled by organized crime, are growing like top seed right now under the current law, which criminalizes any kind of possession or trafficking of marijuana. (Parliament of Canada, Edited Hansard, Mar. 8, 2004)
  • “The commandos and the public order brigades sort of grew like top seed, very quickly, without much control, and without much training,” the American commander said. (International Herald Tribune / New York Times, Dec. 29, 2005)
  • [Robert Altman:] I get a bunch of actors together, I say, “Let’s do this—you be this character; oh, you want to do that? Okay.” It kind of grows like top seed. (Time Out New York, June 8-14, 2006)

Analyzed or reported by:

The original expression is “just grew like Topsy,” referring to Topsy in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, who “jes grew.” As the original referent of “Topsy” becomes less and less familiar, the term has been reanalyzed by some as “top seed,” which sounds like something that might grow quickly.

| 2 comments | link | entered by Ben Zimmer, 2006/08/10 |

seat » seed

Chiefly in:   deep-seeded

Classification: English – /t/-flapping

Spotted in the wild:

  • Still, eight years ago, Darryl Reginelli saw, as others would later on, an opportunity in New Orleans’ lack of a deep-seeded pizza tradition. (Times-Picayune, January 28, 2005)
  • Iesa Galloway, Houston Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the questionnaire was “rooted in deep-seeded ignorance of the religion of Islam and the Muslim people.” (Fox News, January 19, 2005)
  • “The brain is the seed of emotions, personality, vocations and creativity. Brain disorders not only produce physical disability but also hinder human potential. Our goal is to restore the brain to its maximum potential at as early an age as possible,” says Dr. Wiebe, Kinsmen Chair in Pediatric Neurosciences. (Dr. Samuel Wiebe to help children with injury and illness of the brain, U Calgary, January 13, 2005)
  • Epicuren Medicated Acne Cleanser, A medicated anti-bacterial deep pore cleansing gel that is non-irritating to the skin. This product is designed to sterilize the skin’s surface, lift and remove residue and loose dry skin. (Rosanna’s Salon & Day Spa)

Analyzed or reported by:

In the Language Log post cited above, Mark Liberman writes:

>For most Americans, “deep-seeded” is pronounced exactly the same way as “deep-seated”, due to (what linguists call) flapping and voicing of /t/ in words like seated, as in many other contexts (e.g. in fatter and rabbiting and at all, but not in attack). And in terms of the current ordinary-language meaning of the words involved, “deep-seeded ignorance” makes sense, while “deep-seated ignorance” doesn’t. Ignorance can be planted deep and thus have deep metaphorical roots, but deep-seated ignorance would have to be ignorance cut with a lot of room in the crotch, or maybe ignorance sitting in a badly-designed armchair.

We might add that for most speakers, the verb _seed_ will be common in the sense relating to sports competitions, leading to _top-seeded_. AHD4 defines this sense as follows:

>7\. Sports a. To arrange (the drawing for positions in a tournament) so that the more skilled contestants meet in the later rounds. b. To rank (a contestant) in this way.

| 1 comment | link | entered by Chris Waigl, 2005/01/31 |
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