----- Original Message ----- From: Keith Whaley Subject: Re: Terminology lesson. > > What prime means in linguistics is irrelevant. > > Whoa here! > > The meaning of words changes constantly, and dictionaries merely > reflect the more common usage of any parts of language spoken at the > time of the compiling and printing of that dictionary.
As an example, the word "decimate" now seems to mean something entirely different from the original Roman habit of killing one person in ten to enforce their will. We also change the words we use to describe specific meanings, though usually this is politically motivated by soft brained pseudo-intellectuals. I refer specifically to the way that people with mental retardation problems have been referred to through the years. The people are just as damaged, we can't fix that, but it seems like we have to come up with a new word every few years to describe them. I suppose it is because as we become desensitized to one description, we need to come up with another to resensitize ourselves. It's hard to keep up with, though, when your tendency is to use accepted clinical terms rather than what the political sensitive types treat as a flavour of the week adjective. William Robb
