On Mon, Sep 06, 2004 at 11:22:20AM -0700, Thomas Bushnell BSG wrote: > "John H. Robinson, IV" <jaqque@debian.org> writes: > > Thomas Bushnell BSG wrote: > > > That's just how language works: messy and inconsistent. > > And this is why I lament the lack of a clear, solid, unambiguous word to > > mean "from the USA." > The lack of such a word may be lamentable, but that doesn't translate > into the sudden existence of such a word. Language doesn't change by > people saying "I'm going to use a new word now, and you all should > change!" *cough* aluminum [1] [1] http://pearl1.lanl.gov/periodic/elements/13.html Language does change like that. Maybe it is not enforced upon others, but I think most new words appear based on a gap between lexicon and idea, or where a more regular phrase needs contraction due to frequent usage. Or from the compounding of two words for a new or changed idea... You get the point, I expect. English doesn't have an institute per se. to monitor the language and approve or deny new words... However, I understand French does...? This is all much easier in Japanese where [America-jin] "American" can be used to refer to anyone caucasian. I dunno if it refers to other non-Japanese people though. ^_^ -- ----------------------------------------------------------- Paul "TBBle" Hampson, MCSE 7th year CompSci/Asian Studies student, ANU The Boss, Bubblesworth Pty Ltd (ABN: 51 095 284 361) Paul.Hampson@Anu.edu.au "No survivors? Then where do the stories come from I wonder?" -- Capt. Jack Sparrow, "Pirates of the Caribbean" This email is licensed to the recipient for non-commercial use, duplication and distribution. -----------------------------------------------------------
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