> > Goofing partially aside, if a term isnt widely known, it should
> > be discarded.
>
> I'm afraid I have to disagree, Spike. (with this and the pygmies in space
> thing, but that's another subject) I think that developing and keeping in
> use words which describe a concept for which there are no other words is a
> very important cause. The richness of English comes from its wide variety
> of words, with their subtle flavors and colors, and the ability of English
> speakers to generate new words to describe new things. One of the rare
> compliments my German friends give English is that it is very expressive
and
> subtle, which is also one of the only things about the language they find
> hard to learn. Instead of discarding words, let's work on using them more
> often, in a rich context which gives clues to their meanings.
"Orthogonal"
> has a different meaning than "superfluous," or "extraneous," or even
> "off-topic." It's a wonderful word, and I think its worthy of use and
> preservation.
Further yet; mathematician as I am, I *will* keep on using the word (a: I
have to, it's an important concept in many areas, and b: I kinda like the
sound of it :-) and it is one of the more harmless expansions I'm
continously making...
For chrissakes! I cannot hear the word 'group' being mentioned without
asking myself what the operator is and whether it is abelian :-)
// Mikael Johansson
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:56:45 MDT