At 10:19 AM 8/16/2002 +0100, Mike Scott wrote: >Steven Brust said: > > At 07:40 AM 8/16/2002 +0100, Mike Scott wrote: > >> > >>You certainly need sharp knives to be available. But shall I come and > >> put a razor edge on your butter knife? > > > > No one is suggesting you do so. I like butter knives as they are, > > that's why I have them. And I have as many as I want; there is no need > > to turn my Chef's knife into another one. > >You certainly seem to be suggesting that imprecise constructs such as >"hopefully" have no place in the language, and that only precise ones >should be allowed. My position is similar to your position on knives -- I >like both of them, as long as they're used for an appropriate task. I am suggesting that English is already so well supplied with imprecise formulations that adding more is absurd. Introducing changes that make it easy and natural to be imprecise is not something I can conceive as being a positive change.