binder%dosadi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (06/29/84)
From: binder%dosadi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (The Stainless Steel Rat) This discussion does seem to have moved rather far afield from SF, but... > I haven't looked into the American Heritage Dictionary > recently, but SURELY it gives the wood chips/packing material > as the second definition? > Nope! It is the only definition given. > Is the American Heritage the one Nero Wolfe was burning page > by page because it claimed that "infer" and "imply" were > equivalent? O tempora, O mores. (O the tempura, O the morels) > O DI immortales! Dii manes, but I'm fascinated to learn that there are other Latin lovers about! And I do like morels, too. > Actually, in my edition (1974), they take great pains to make sure one > understands the two words are "carefully distinguished in modern > usage.... not interchangeable." > However it is a cruddy dictionary, I have been looking for any > dictionary where I can find the definition of "perjorative" (sic?) or > instantiate. Anyone got one? Can't wait to get my Oxford English > Dictionary on a chip. Why bless my bones, and isn't deja vu wonderful! 'Twas just last year that I witnessed a friend suffering from the selfsame lamentable complaint. Well sir, I have just what the doctor ordered, the wonder tonic of the century! It's called the Oxford AMERICAN Dictionary (fancy that!), and it contains the following definitions (pronunciations, etc., omitted for lack of a sufficient character set): excelsior: interj. (as a motto etc.) higher. imply: v. 1. to suggest without stating directly, to hint. infer: v. 1. to reach an opinion from facts or reasoning. 2. to imply. ( >this use should be avoided because it conceals the distinction between infer and imply.) instantiate: v. to represent by an instance. pejorative: adj. disparaging, derogatory. We should all bear in mind what dictionaries REALLY are, as explained in the soon-to-be-released CURMUDGEON'S DICTIONARY: DICTIONARY: A collection of what the editors fondly hope passes for educational material, intended to record how words are used. Widely believed to prescribe the correct usage of language, in consequence of which belief the language is rapidly going to hell in a handbasket. Dictionaries are not entirely without merit, however; they often earn their editors large sums of money. Cheers, Dick Binder (The Stainless Steel Rat) UUCP: { decvax, allegra, ucbvax }!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-dosadi!binder ARPA: binder%dosadi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA Posted Thursday 28th June 1984, 17:23 EDT by DOSADI::BINDER