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> Je 08:10 ptm 5/31/99 +0200, Kjell skribis: > > >I think I have heard Megastar, but I don't remember if that was in its > >English form or if it was Swedish _megastj=E4rna_! But the _kunteksto_ told > >me it was about a person. > > > Oh, certainly. Think it might refer to the amount they're paid per movie > appearance? (Arnie, Sly, and now Leo -- not to mention some others -- now > fall well into the megastar category, if this is the case...). More likely, it's a substitute for "superstar", which has lost most of its impact due to rhetorical inflation. That's probably the general mechanism behind the rise of mega-, and explains why it seems strongest in the pop-music and porno milieus, which are addicted to rhetorical excess. "Superstar" was popularised by Andy Warhol in the late 1960s, right? And I suppose it had a certain frisson of daring in "Jesus Christ Superstar", the 1972 rock opera. But it's long since dead. "Mega- star", by contrast, is a pretty weak piece of overkill. Cheers, Chris