Like VinnyD, I know about wicked meaning "cool" (in olden times, i.e. maybe 30 years ago), but otherwise I have always considered it to be just a colorful and amusing word for 'bad.'
As a Miss Marple fan, I must admit, however, that whenever she used the word 'wicked' in her analysis of a situation, I knew that she was not being amusing or colorful at all. She was talking about something really evil.
Miss Marple... great character! Haven't watched for a looong time.
Is LaGrande still around? And OZinOH?
On "bad" meaning "good":
The Way He Loves Is Just Too Bad, Libby Holman, recorded January 1928. Although it also means bad there, in a sense.
LaGrande hasn't been seen in years. Nor OZ, I think.
Shouldn't that be "Neither OZ, I think"?
No. "Neither has OZ, I think" would be possible, but only nor is possible in a construction like Vinny's in which the noun is negated in isolation from a preceding verb.
I agree with zashibis but I'll add one thing. In very casual speech (not the same as writing on the TT), you might hear "Oz neither." ("Me neither" seems to be used in writing a little more than that.) But "Neither Oz" doesn't work.
As a Boston native, I'll chime in to say that "wicked" does mean the same as "very" there. It's not used in every sentence but I can't find a rule of when to use it and when to use very or really. It's certainly more casual. You wouldn't use it in a job interview, for example.
Edited by: DianaHaddad
I have a related question. Maybe I get that one wrong as well although it always strikes me when I hear it and think it sounds very odd.
It is the usage of "either" (or rather not using "either"). I quite often hear people saying e.g. "I don't know as well" or "He is not joining as well". I learned that in these sentences "either" should be used instead of "as well", i.e. "I don't know either" and "He is not joining either".
There's a lot going on in that question.
Both of those look wrong with "as well" when I read them. But the one with "joining" looks stranger to me because we don't usually use that verb without an object. "Not joining us" "not joining the meeting" etc. work better.
When I adjust for that in my head, I can hear a situation where those options are being said. But there is a lot of context. It's a context where someone is apologetic or afraid that you're going to be upset. There is probably a slight pause between "not joining us" and "as well".
I think that when people break bad news to someone, they sometimes like to keep talking to let the other person cool down before that person has the chance to speak. It's an unconscious habit. I picture a receptionist having to tell an important client that the lawyer he's waiting for is going to be in a more important meeting, and really dreading and fearing saying this to the client.
"Not joining us either" sounds more neutral.
Just my 2 cents.
Apart from being "more neutral", is it grammatically correct to combine "not" with "as well" (or also, too)? I struggle with putting these together:
Tom's also not at home. - Tom's not at home either.
I haven't read that book as well. - I haven't read that book either.
I wouldn't buy that car as well. - I wouldn't buy that car either.
I quite often hear people saying e.g. "I don't know as well" or "He is not joining as well".
Apart from being "more neutral", is it grammatically correct to combine "not" with "as well" (or also, too)?
I have some difficulty believing you hear such constructions "often," unless you work with non-native speakers, as they are, indeed, ungrammatical, and not the sort of grammatical gaffe most native speakers typically make. (As DH suggests, using the wrong word here simply "sounds wrong.")
At any rate, it is a rule: a negative statement requires the use of either+ . +Too+ , +also+ and +as well are reserved for positive statements.
The exception is when positive and negative statements are combined in a single sentence:
He drinks too much, but at least he doesn't smoke as well.
or
You can have an apple, but you can't have an orange too.
(examples borrowed from Swan's Practical English Usage )