[Leica] OT chuntering, was formerly on-topic

[John Brownlow <john@johnbrownlow.com>]

On 4/7/02 leicam4pro@yahoo.com wrote:

>> That error is so common, I expect it to become the norm
>> soon, with
>> grammar books changing its (or would that be it's?)
>> status to being
>> "correct". Now, if only people would use complement
>> instead of
>> compliment when speaking of things that work well
>> together.
>============================================================
>
>    if you think that is bad, look up the true meaning of
>"decimate" and then pay attention to how it is (mis)used
>time after time.

Yes, decimate has a very precise meaning (to remove every tenth object,
person, bit, piece of data, ie to reduce BY one-tenth, not TO one-tenth
as it is commonly used).

The one that drives me NUTS is when supposedly intelligent reporters say
something like "President Total Dickwad today refuted allegations that he
is a total dickwad"

Of course Tricky Dicky did nothing of the sort. He *denied* them, he may
even have *rebutted* them, but you can bet your potato latkes that he
didn't *refute* them, since he is as everyone knows a total dickwad.

What is particularly irksome about this is that the erroneous definition
HAS now crept into the dictionary. MS Word's Encarta dictionary offers:

re·fute vt
1.	to prove something to be false or somebody to be in error through
logical argument or by providing evidence to the contrary
2.	to deny an allegation or contradict a statement without disproving it

In otherwords it can mean either 'disprove' or 'deny'. This has clearly
diminished the power of the word, because if I now say that I can refute
someone's allegation that I am (say) a dickwad, people assume I am merely
denying it rather than disproving it.

Merriam-Webster and various other authorities have all diluted the word
similarly within the last 3-4 years, since the 1998 Websters still has
what, to my mind, remains the *real* meaning of 'refute'

refute
\Re*fute"\ (r?*F3t"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Refuted; p. pr. & vb. n.
Refuting.] [F. r['e]futer, L. refuteare to repel, refute. Cf. Confute,
Refuse to deny.] To disprove and overthrow by argument, evidence, or
countervailing proof; to prove to be false or erroneous; to confute; as,
to refute arguments; to refute testimony; to refute opinions or theories;
to refute a disputant. 
There were so many witnesses in these two miracles that it is impossible
to refute such multitudes. --Addison. 
Syn: To confute; disprove. See Confute.

Except that of course usage determines meaning, so I'm afraid the game is
already over.



- -- 
John Brownlow

http://www.pinkheadedbug.com

- --
To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html