Re: throwing up my hands

[Beth Benoit]

Title: Re: throwing up my hands

Isn't is nauseating that >> Current evidence shows these facts: nauseous is most frequently used to mean physically affected with nausea, usually after a linking verb such as feel or become<<? So does that mean that usage - even incorrect usage - will ultimately change the original meaning of the word? What's next?  Perhaps that meaningless expression "I could have cared less" actually meaning "I couldn't care less"?  Heaven help us!!  Is there no mercy for those of us who consider themselves the Keepers of Flame of Correct Usage?? Trying to hold my head aloft so I don't become - well, you know, Beth Benoit University of Massachuseetts Lowell HEAR ME>> http://www.pagoo.com/signature/bbenoit3 ---------- From: David <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: throwing up my hands Date: Fri, Aug 4, 2000, 12:20 PM On the question of _nauseated_ vs. _nauseous_, I've always let Merriam-Webster be my guide: http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary Main Entry:     nau.seous Date:   1612 1 : causing nausea or disgust : NAUSEATING 2 : affected with nausea or disgust usage: Those who insist that nauseous can properly be used only in sense 1 and that in sense 2 it is an error for nauseated are mistaken.; figurative use is quite a bit less frequent. Use of nauseous in sense 1 is much more often figurative than literal, and this use appears to be losing ground to nauseating. Nauseated is used more widely than nauseous in sense 2.