Re: 1999 !

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Michael T. Jones (mtjones++at++ix.netcom.com)
Mon, 04 Jan 1999 22:51:42 -0800

At 05:49 PM 1/4/99 -0800, Angus Dorbie wrote:
:
>I think you're totally different, at least when it
>comes to birthdays.
>
>>From Websters:
>"The day or anniversary of one's birth."

Sadly, it's so not only in Webster's, but even in my reliable
friend, the trusty American Heritage Dictionary -- an M1A1
compared to Webster's Yugo. This shows that Americans
should be careful arguing language with Angus. The English,
it seems, have an advantage.

I must say that I don't like the usage in the slightest. There's
nothing anniversarial in the word 'birthday' itself, nothing at
all, and this could easily get out of hand. If similar 'now'
and 'event' words get doubly defined as "either right now or
else an integer multiple of notable time units since the event
actually happened" we'll never know when things happened.
People will say "It's election day" and we'll feel unprepared only
to find out that it's the third anniversay of that day, or we'll
be told, "It's a leap year" meaning "it's the Nth anniversary of
year now-N, which was a leap year." Horrible. "It's my 60th
birthday." "Wow, you're really in good shape!" "Well, I was
using definition 'b' in the dictionary: it *will* be the sixtieth
year since my birth in only 22 years." What is the meaning of
past, present, and future tenses in such a scheme? How will
we ever know what the meaning of 'is' is?

Next they'll be selling "ice tea" (a solid) instead of "iced tea,"
offering us "fresh ground pepper" (a paste) from restaurant
peppermills instead of "freshly ground pepper," selling houses
with "screen porches" (dangerous to step out onto) instead of
"screened" ones, and other such atrocities. Quel damage, as
they say in France. And if my nemesis, the insipid, widely-used,
and ultimately stupid phrase, "lowest common denominator"
(a.k.a., "least common denominator," it's evil twin) ever shows
up in a dictionary, I'm reaching for the Esperanto book and
never coming back.

Michael "Too-cheerful-to-hit-delete" Jones

----------
Michael T. Jones - <mailto:mtj++at++intrinsic.com>mtj++at++intrinsic.com -
<http://www.intrinsic.com/>Intrinsic Software Inc. - (408) 507-8160
A frog in a well says "The sky is as big as the mouth of my well"

At 05:49 PM 1/4/99 -0800, Angus Dorbie wrote:
:
>I think you're totally different, at least when it
>comes to birthdays.
>
>>From Websters:
>"The day or anniversary of one's birth."

Sadly, it's so not only in Webster's, but even in my reliable
friend, the trusty American Heritage Dictionary -- an M1A1
compared to Webster's Yugo.  This shows that Americans
should be careful arguing language with Angus.  The English,
it seems, have an advantage.

I must say that I don't like the usage in the slightest.  There's
nothing anniversarial in the word 'birthday' itself, nothing at
all, and this could easily get out of hand.  If  similar 'now'
and 'event' words get doubly defined as "either right now or
else an integer multiple of notable time units since the event
actually happened" we'll never know when things happened. 
People will say "It's election day" and we'll feel unprepared only
to find out that it's the third anniversay of that day, or we'll
be told, "It's a leap year" meaning "it's the Nth anniversary of
year now-N, which was a leap year." Horrible. "It's my 60th
birthday."  "Wow, you're really in good shape!"  "Well, I was
using definition 'b' in the dictionary: it *will* be the sixtieth
year since my birth in only 22 years." What is the meaning of
past, present, and future tenses in such a scheme?  How will
we ever know what the meaning of 'is' is?

Next they'll be selling "ice tea" (a solid) instead of "iced tea," 
offering us "fresh ground pepper" (a paste) from restaurant
peppermills instead of "freshly ground pepper," selling houses
with "screen porches" (dangerous to step out onto) instead of
"screened" ones, and other such atrocities. Quel damage, as
they say in France.  And if my nemesis, the insipid, widely-used,
and ultimately stupid phrase, "lowest common denominator"
(a.k.a., "least common denominator," it's evil twin) ever shows
up in a dictionary, I'm reaching for the Esperanto book and
never coming back.

Michael "Too-cheerful-to-hit-delete" Jones

Michael T. Jones - mtj++at++intrinsic.com - Intrinsic Software Inc. - (408) 507-8160
A frog in a well says "The sky is as big as the mouth of my well"

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