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OP Not German, and probably of interest only to a few. I posted it several months ago,
having been quite convinced that an article in TIME had egregiously misused it in
statement that "In Afghanistan, loyalties are fungible...." Loyalty is in no way
comparable to a commodity. It cannot be bought, it cannot be sold, it cannot
be traded.
My dictionary says:
fungible
adj.
ML fungibilis < L fungi, to perform: see FUNCTION Law designating movable goods,
as grain, any unit or part of which can replace another unit, as in discharging a debt
I have found it ina quotation in a book by Thmas Homer-Dixon, who has very impressive
credentials, entitled "The Ingenuity Gap". He is describing the workers in London's new
business center:
"Some of them, at least, belonged to an endlessly fungible international super-elite
of investment bankers corporate lawyers, and equity traders whose members are equally
comfortable working anywhere on the planet, so long asthey have the right computers,
software, and communications equipment."
He means that these men have much the same education and training, and could change
readily from one employer to another. This I find an acceptable use of "fungible".
Entire Thread Subject Posted By Posted fungible wwh 10/03/02 03:44 PM Re: fungible of troy 10/03/02 04:03 PM Re: fungible Faldage 10/03/02 04:06 PM
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