gino@voder.UUCP (Gino Bloch) (09/11/84)
I know maven to mean expert, never heard of it as witch, and can't find it in my Oxford Transistorized* Dictionary. * Thanks to J Pournelle in a recent Byte -- Gene E. Bloch (...!nsc!voder!gino)
sigel%umass-cs.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa (09/14/84)
From: Andrew D. Sigel <sigel%umass-cs.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa>
< 'Maven' is today used almost exclusively to describe females dealing
< with the occult, both in fiction and in real life.
Having heard 'maven' only used to mean 'expert' when it has been
used in my presence (including recent times), I would like more
convincing evidence than Dick Binder's say-so before I modify my
vocabulary. (I have yet to encounter the word while reading
fantasy.)
< Given that we are subscribers to a science fiction (and fantasy)
< lovers' network, I think we should at least make a stab at using
< words in the way ordinarily accepted in the field. But then I've
< always been strongly opinionated and prejudiced against people who I
< feel won't be bothered to use language properly.
I've always felt able to use the English language with reasonable
felicity. It is true that I don't know the meaning of every word in
existence; it is also true that I occasionally misuse words I do
know. I do not, however, find it reasonable to be accused of misuse
for using a word with a valid current definition that is known by the
general populace, while unaware of a second wholly different meaning
in a specialized field. (I'm truly curious -- it would seem that few
SF-Lovers have heard of the 'female wizard' definition before Dick
Binder's message, while several know (and use?) the 'expert'
definition. How many out there *were* cognizant of the 'female
wizard' meaning?)
I agree that, being fans of science fiction and fantasy, we should
take care to use words with divergent meanings in sf/f and the
mundane world with their special sf/f meanings, unless the mundane
definition is patently clear through context. However, as one who
has read few 'occult' novels, and does not consider them to be part
of the sf/f mainstream (hardly an unusual view of fiction genres), I
would argue that 'maven' does not deserve to be considered in that
light for this network.
Andrew Sigel