Dragaera

OT: Subjectivity vs. Objectivity (was: bois...)

Wed Aug 14 23:26:47 PDT 2002

Steven Brust <skzb at dreamcafe.com> writes:

> And it is worth mentioning that some dictionaries are more willing
> accept changes than others.  My American Heritage dictionary does not
> agree with Miriam-Webster about what "nauseous" means.  Certainly,
> when we insist on the more precise, useful term we are fighting a
> rear-guard action, and are probably doomed.  But I consider it a fight
> worth waging anyway.

I'd have to disagree that the older meaning of "nauseous" is either
more precise or more useful. It seems to me that both meanings are
about equally precise, just different. And if it was more useful in
its older role, it would probably have stayed in it. It's not as if it
filled some linguistic niche which is now vacant -- the concept can be
expressed perfectly well with "nauseating".

-- 
Mike Scott