XPost: rec.arts.anime.misc   
   From: emschwar@pobox.com   
      
   Captain Nerd  writes:   
   >  Eric Schwartz  wrote:   
   > > So that's a good reason to use the wrong word?   
   >   
   >    It's worked for millenia, why change now?   
   >   
   >    (hint: why are "flammable" and "inflammable" synonyms?)   
      
   Hint: not the reason you think.   
      
   Flammable comes from the Latin word flammare.   
   Inflammable comes from the Latin word inflammare.   
      
   Both words are (clearly) related, but distinct.  "In-" does not always   
   mean "without, not".   
      
   >    The "wrong word" is the word that isn't mutually understood by   
   >    the speaker/writer and the listener/reader.   
      
   The "wrong word" is the word that makes understanding more difficult   
   or introduces ambiguity where precision is available.  Understanding   
   may be possible even with the "wrong word", but it may be clumsy or   
   confusing.   
      
   >    And if we want to set up "word cops", I demand the arrest   
   >    and detention, without parole or communication, of everyone   
   >    who says "irregardless" when they mean "regardless".   
      
   Criminy, lighten up already.  I'm not demanding arrest or detention,   
   I'm asking people to use the right word for the right thing.  That's   
   hardly overreacting.   
      
   -=Eric   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)