Keith Willoughby
[email protected] opined the following...
> Jon Senior wrote:
>
> > Keith Willoughby [email protected] opined the following...
> > And "pin" means? http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=pin&db=* will
> > provide some answers. The page contains two definitions which are
> > abbreviations. If you treat "pin" as a word in its own right, then a
> > "pin number" makes no sense
>
> Sure it does. Everyone knows what a PIN number is. All the sense in the
> world.
And the same people also understand PIN, since it is contextual. When
the case machine asks you to type in your pin, you don't start looking
for a sewing accessory. It is shorter, and retains a sensible meaning,
in that expansion will reveal what it is asking for. Again... PIN Number
contains redundancy.
> > (Except possibly when referring to a large numbered collection of
> > sharp metallic objects!). If it is an abbreviation, then the sentence
> > should make sense with the abbreviation expanded.
>
> Why?
Because otherwise its meaning is lost. You don't request a passwordword.
Why request a numbernumber?
> >> No, hang on. The subject is the use of neologisms, not what's on TV. How
> >> does the creation of the word 'lasing' indicate 'dumbing down'? Who on
> >> Earth is using 'lasing' in a 'dumb' manner? How does the 50-year usage
> >> of "Phonetic Alphabet" lead to dumbing down?
> >
> > "Lasing" is indicative of dumbing down because it provides a continuous
> > tense for a non-existant verb.
>
> The verb exists. Deal with it.
So I gather... I stand corrected (If horrified!).
> > The usage of "Phonetic Alphabet" does not necessarily lead to dumbing
> > down (Although in some cases it does lead to misunderstanding). It does
> > however shown up a lack of understanding.
>
> No. *****ing about it shows a lack of understanding of how language is
> used.
Badly you mean? I have offered my experience of how the use of the
phrase "Phonetic Alphabet" has produced people who do not know what
phonetic means. Since we don't yet have another word for that, but have
a perfectly servicable phrase in the form of "Spelling Alphabet", I see
good cause to encourage its use.
> We've been calling a lizard a "slow worm" for hundreds of years,
> for exampe, and English has survived.
Funny. In my life time I've only come across "slow worm" about two or
three times (including this one). It took a while before I found out
that the thing that is called a lizard might actually be known as a slow
worm.
> >> You said yourself that you correct people whenever it comes up. It
> >> appears to be a crusade.
> >
> > The key point here is "whenever it comes up". It has come up now about 3
> > times in my life. You implied that I go out of my way to bring the topic
> > up.
>
> No, I didn't. I said whenever you get the opportunity. Ie, whenever it
> comes up. The other interpretation of that is "every single waking
> hour", which would be . . . a perverse interpretation.
"Crusade". The crusades were not about occasional corrections of
opinion, they involved invasion and mass-slaughter. To liken my three
corrections to a crusade implies (Whether you intended it to or not)
that I go out of my way to bring this topic up.
> > I do not.
> > I never suggested it was (Although it may be indicative of such a
> > tendency). Having abusive language as a considered response to a
> > stranger offering a correction would suggest sociopathic behaviour.
>
> Maybe where you come from. Where I come from - Earth - correcting
> strangers on their use of correct words is considered rude behaviour.
Funny. We expect teachers to do it all day. Who said education had to
stop when you leave school? I enjoy using my brain, and welcome new
information. It would appear that you don't. Any chance of posting JPGs
in case there is ever any danger of us meeting?
Jon
