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Joined: Oct 2001
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OP
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Recently, one of our more fastidious grammarians pursued a usage of suspicious pedigree until it evaporated into the mists of coincidence.
Is this a case of supplanting a suspected offence against linguistic purity with an offence against scientific plausibility?
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
Where's the probs, Dub-dub?
Scientifically speaking, mist is caused by the evaporation of water.
Other matter, in liquid form, can also evaporate and may or may not cause a mist.
Co-incidence is a decidedly misty (not to say mystical) happening.
So, from a metaphoric point of view, I can't see anything wrong with your highlighted phrase, above.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear WM: Mist is formed by the condensation of vapor. So his metaphor is assbackwards.
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
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That's Wordminstrel up there--not WW.
I would ask whether mist is more likely formed by condensation rather than evaporation?
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Quietly sitting by watching the tempest swirling in the smudge pot
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 161
member
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member
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 161 |
evaporation per se does not cause mist.
air can contain some moisture depending on the temperature.
water evaporates from open water surfaces (and being evaporated by plants) during the day. but mist occures only when the temperature of environment drops below a certain point and excess vapour is condenced.
the methaphor above is difficult to understand and probablu incorectair can contain some moisture depending on the temperature.
water evaporates from open water surfaces (and being evaporated by plants) during the day. but mist occures only when the temperature of environment drops below a certain point and excess vapour is condenced.
the methaphor above is difficult to understand and probably incorrect
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
Coincidence, having less *substance than appearance, is an excellent target for a 'mist' analogy... the context, however, must be *borrowing itself to 'evaporation'. [optimist-e]
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
That's Wordminstrel up there--not WW. Whoops! Post poste-haste, riposte at leisure! Sorry, both WM and WW!
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 555
addict
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addict
Joined: Dec 2002
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it evaporated into the mists of coincidence
Evaporation: liquid water - vapour
Condensation: vapour - liquid (water droplets around particulate matter in the air like dust)
Precipitation: suspended water droplets in atmosphere (from cloud) - liquid or solid water forms onto the ground (onto land)
There wouldn't be a mist without condensation and we couldn't get condensation without evaporated vapour settling around condensation particles. It is cyclical.
So, the part about something evaporating into a mist seems to me to be both semantically and scientifically correct.
However, I am uncomfortable with the 'mists of coincidence' part. I understand the metaphorical sense of 'mists' as, alluding to qualities that obscure, blur, confuse; anything that evades clarity. Maybe even ephemeral. Its meretricious quality seems less likely to be the metaphorical element.
A coincidence is an event; it is an occurence. It might evade understanding; we might view it as esoteric and imbue it with symbolism, but none of this makes it 'misty'.
Still, there is always the matter of artistic license, I suppose. 
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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Parbly y'all got confused by my imprecision when I seemed to be saying that all irregular verbs are intransitive and all regular verbs transitive. I didn't mean to imply that but it certainly looks like I did if you take what I said at face value. That is my fault and I apologize for the confusion I have created.
I shall now evaporate into the midst of coinference.
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