Yes! Makes me laugh! And I see that James makes the same point. So we could say "Colloidal silver is antibiotic" and leave out the "an" and be pedantically correct (as per definition) but as it meets the general definition in B I don't have any problem in leaving the "an" in
Terry ----- Original Message ----- From: Marshall Dudley To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 9:49 PM Subject: Re: CS>FTC regulations? But it does meet the adjective definition. So CS is antibiotic but is not an antibiotic. Would that be correct? Marshall Terry Dickinson wrote: English use - from the New Shorter Oxford Dictionary: antibiotic /%antIbVI"QtIk/ a. & n. m19. [f. anti- + Gk biotikos fit for life, f. bios life: see - otic.] A adj. ?1 Doubting the possibility of life (in a particular environment). m-l19. 2 Injurious to or destructive of living matter, esp. micro-organisms; of or pertaining to antibiotics. l19. B n. A substance which is capable of destroying or inhibiting the growth of bacteria or other micro- organisms; spec. one that is produced by another micro-organism (or is a synthetic analogue of a microbial product), and is used therapeutically. m20. So, for my pennorth, CS does not meet the specific noun definition. Terry ----- Original Message ----- From: Marshall Dudley To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 3:06 PM Subject: Re: CS>FTC regulations? I believe by convention an antibiotic that is used on non-living things is called a disinfectant. The dictionary says that an antibiotic is anything that kills some forms of life. Marshall
