RE: Atheism is a religion
January 7, 2012 at 10:27 pm
(This post was last modified: January 7, 2012 at 10:29 pm by Cyberman.)
Apart from the fact that the word astronaught doesn't exist, I never said anything about meanings and certainly not their being independant of definitions. Please try and keep up. Lexicographers follow the usage of words, they do not invent it. The word 'quiz' is a fine example, though possibly apocryphal it nevertheless illustrates the point beautifully. Richard Daly, a theatre owner in Dublin is said to have made a bet that he could get a word into the language within forty-eight hours. To that end, he instructed his staff to go about the town and chalk the word 'quiz' on walls and doors. This became the subject of gossip quite quickly and led to the word becoming part of the language. From there it was only a short hop to the dictionary.
Pick up a modern dictionary and you'll most likely find entries for such neologisms as 'lolspeak', 'brb' and 'lmfao'. They are recorded there because the usage of the words created the definition and not vice versa.
Edit: okay, the word astronaught now exists apparently, and I bet I won't sleep for thinking about it.
Pick up a modern dictionary and you'll most likely find entries for such neologisms as 'lolspeak', 'brb' and 'lmfao'. They are recorded there because the usage of the words created the definition and not vice versa.
Edit: okay, the word astronaught now exists apparently, and I bet I won't sleep for thinking about it.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'