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zmjezhd #186366 08/09/09 04:41 PM
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Thank you, all, and thanks for the links too.
I am appreciative. Learning much.


----please, draw me a sheep----
zmjezhd #186370 08/09/09 09:35 PM
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I suppose you got to start with number 1.? I feel more like
Killing the Dragon at once, but that I suppose is meant as a reward for having read the other two ? ;-)

BranShea #186372 08/10/09 01:44 AM
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having read the other two Branny! Holy cow!! Good for you!!! I haven't even heard of them! [deep bow]

Jackie #186378 08/10/09 02:39 AM
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Originally Posted By: Jackie
having read the other two Branny! Holy cow!! Good for you!!! I haven't even heard of them! [deep bow]


I see what you did there...

zmjezhd #186379 08/10/09 03:19 AM
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Originally Posted By: zmjezhd
competing hypotheses (called theories erroneously by linguists).


i am just coming to an understanding of this but i had gained an impression that if enough people used a word in a certain way then it meant wat its users understood it to mean, even if it used differently by other groups of users. or is this an(other) instance of my belief that i know some english being decimated?

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I see what you did there...
Thats a reward for having read the post properly wink

Jackie #186381 08/10/09 08:50 AM
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but that I suppose is meant as a reward for having read the other two ? ;-)

How should it have been to make clear I surely did not ( yet) read the other two? (for I don't see what you did there, tears blinding my eyes @-@)

latishya #186383 08/10/09 10:35 AM
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Originally Posted By: latishya
i had gained an impression that if enough people used a word in a certain way then it meant wat its users understood it to mean, even if it used differently by other groups of users. or is this an(other) instance of my belief that i know some english being decimated?


Faldage's Hypothesis on Language Change states that the language is reinvented every generation. The efforts of well-meaning prescriptivists may put the brakes on this process, but, like any brakes on an unstoppable force, they will eventually burn out.

latishya #186385 08/10/09 01:23 PM
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i am just coming to an understanding of this but i had gained an impression that if enough people used a word in a certain way then it meant wat its users understood it to mean, even if it used differently by other groups of users. or is this an(other) instance of my belief that i know some english being decimated?

Yes, you're right. Linguists use the word theory differently from scientists, and I was trying to stop complaints about social sciences not really being science, etc. I'll go back and change it. (Also, nothing says that linguists have to be happy when words or their meanings change, they just don't try to explain it away as the result of kids messing with the language.)


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
Faldage #186386 08/10/09 01:32 PM
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Faldage's Hypothesis on Language Change states that the language is reinvented every generation.

zmj's SWAG states that language change happens between discoursing subjects. It is an epiphenomenon of communication. The meaning of words is determined by custom, usage, and context (all of which are subject to change).


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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