John Kulig said:

> Gleitman's Intro text defines homogamy as "tendency of like to mate with
> like" though in the text the term appears in a context that suggests it
> means we associate with others like us.

> Q: does the term "homogamy" necessarily imply mating (as the roots would
> suggest) or is the term used more broadly to mean any tendency for like
> to befriend like? [I am writing a paper and want to refer to the latter,
> but not the former]. The dictionaries in my office are of no help. Any
> help will be appreciated! JK

This won't help John with his question, but "hogamy" reminds me of the
following famous doggerel widely (and undoubtedly incorrectly) attributed
to William James:

Hogamus, higamous
Man is polygamous
Higamus, hogamous
Woman monogamous

I always considered those curious words pure nonsense but in the light of
this discussion, it seems they're not entirely so (impure nonsense?).
Their unknown author may have been inspired to them by the real word
"hogamy" which, as we've learned on this thread, is a term used to
describe mating relationships. Ah, the things we learn on TIPS.

Stephen

Stephen Black
Department of Psychology
Bishop's University
Lennoxville, Quebec
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

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