| Paul Hampson 2004-09-07, 7:51 am |
| On Mon, Sep 06, 2004 at 11:22:20AM -0700, Thomas Bushnell BSG wrote:
> "John H. Robinson, IV" <jaqque@debian.org> writes:
[vbcol=seagreen]
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> 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. ^_^
--
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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"
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