On May 14, 5:00 pm, pete <pfil...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Dr. HotSalt wrote:
> > On May 12, 10:11 pm, pete <pfil...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >> Dr. HotSalt wrote:
> >>> Perhaps you would care to examine the roots of the word
> >>> "****ography" with emphasis on the "-graphy" part.
> >> How do you feel about graphic pictures and graphic writing?
>
> > I feel that those who misuse words like "graphic" should be impaled
> > on large rods of graphite.
>
> It's difficult to deal with a rapidly evolving language.
> But, "misuse" happens to be the primary mode of
> the evolution of English, and all living languages evolve.
Standard excuse of word-abusers.
Words have _meanings_. (Considering where this thread was
crossposted*, that seemed appropriate.)
The Ancient Greek root graphein was a verb with a specific meaning;
to encode information in non-glyphic symbols.
Word-abusers will claim that "we ain't no Ancient Greeks and can
define words any way we want", completely ignoring the fact that the
task of language is to express a particular concept with a particular
word; when a word is used to express some other concept, what happens
to the original concept? Is it orphaned forever, or will word-abusers
bother to reassign some other innocent bystanding word to take up the
slack? What then happens to the meaning of the so-reassigned word?
(What word are we now expected to use to express the original
meaning of "graphein", "text"? That will last only until carpal-tunnel
syndrome becomes pandemic.)
There results a vicious domino-collapse of meaning-reassignment
ending who-knows-where?
* I am participating in this thread from alt.religion.kibology and
would like to point out that on at least some days, Kibo closely
resembles an iron.
Dr. HotSalt
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