| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
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| horse opera, oater (nn.) |
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| are terms for Westerns, the romancesnovels, plays, and moviesabout cowboys and rustlers and the American West of the late nineteenth century. Horse opera, like soap opera, is now Standard in all but the most Oratorical and Formal contexts; oater remains slang and appears to be fading. | 1 |
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| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
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