If you can say it, there's a linguistic label for it

John is a friend.
You mean he's a Quaker?
No, he's not a Quaker Oats Friend -- he's a FRIEND friend.
I really like him.
You mean you're going out with him?
No, I don't LIKE HIM like him -- I just like him.

You've heard them a thousand times, possibly more often than you'd like, but did you know there was a linguistic term for phrases like FRIEND friend and LIKE HIM like him? It's called "contrastive focus reduplication."

In  "Contrastive focus reduplication in English (the Salad-Salad paper), " Ghomeshi et al. define the phenomenon as "the copying of words and sometimes phrases as in It''s tuna salad, not SALAD-salad, or Do you LIKE-HIM-like him?"

And now you know. Via Language Log

Comments

[CraigC]

Now I can go to sleep happy.

[CGHill]

I am so stealing this.

Well, not stealing stealing this: that would be wrong.