Chris Olson - SunPS writes:
> Chris Olson - SunPS writes:
> OK, now what if all the dictionary-writers got together and
> decided to change "fig" to mean "prune"? Would that make it
> right?
> If it reflected usage, yes. See how the definition of "nice" mutated
> from a negative one to a positive one, for example.
Ok, but what about the rest of humanity who still see
fig as fig?
Obviously, they will be wrong, and as such, re-educated.
Basicly, where does one draw the line? How many people need to be
using a word differently for it to have a different meaning?
It entirely depends on the context. Ask a UNIX sysadmin and a priest
what a demon is and you'll get two entirely different, correct answers.
As for "nice", I've heard it used (and, I'll admit, use it
myself) as an exclamation of disbelief, irony, or sarcasm...
"You say your boss just fired you? Nice..."
Irony is a separate boat. The word itself doesn't change meaning;
rather, the tone conveys your meaning. I meant that "nice" comes from
the same Latin root as Spanish's "necio", which means 'ignorant' or
'stubborn'.
And I'd be curious to know where others on this list draw
their own lines as to new word usage, or do they just take
everything as it comes and accept it? "Well, it's being
used that way, so now it means that..."
Humpty Dumpty once said, "When I use a word, it means just what I
choose it to mean, neither more nor less." I would call myself an
extreme antihumptydumptyan. Thus, i scorn the ridiculous current
usage of "impact" as a synonym for "affect", even though usage has
rendered my protestations effectively moot. There will come a time
when people wonder why a molar is "impacted". And at that time i will
start a violence spree marked by the headline: "MAN IMPACTS PEOPLE IN
FACE WITH DICTIONARY".
rone
--
{Reagan's} presidency always reminded me of a remark made by a woman to
Heywood Broun following Secretariat's victory in the Triple Crown. After the
trauma of Vietnam and Watergate, she said, Secretariat had "restored her faith
in humanity." I like to think Reagan was the Secretariat of the eighties.
- Garry Trudeau