[plug] billion (was Unix Epoch: 1 billion seconds breakfast function.)

[Christian]

On Mon, Sep 03, 2001 at 12:02:53PM +0800, Bret Busby wrote:
> > If the dictionaries don't reflect general usage, then the dictionaries
> > are broken - not the people.
> > 
> > Colin
> 
> The dictionaries merely state what the words are and what they mean. If people
> misuse the words, it is the people that are the problem ("Exterminate!
> Exterminate!").

And I'm sure when our dictionary-overlords come to punish us for
misusing their words, you will be one of the first to go.  Run-on
sentences and comma plagues will certainly have sealed your fate.

Seriously though, Colin is obviously completely correct.  If everyone is
misusing a word then that misuse must be acknowledged.  Misusing a word
isn't a moral issue (although, given some people on this list, you could
be forgiven for thinking that it was) and if everyone wants it to mean
something different then there is no point claiming otherwise.  Language
is constantly evolving and always has been.  Trying to stop this is
futile.  The classic example of this is "vulgar slang" which almost
always is the application of a word with a polite meaning to an impolite
meaning.  Eventually the polite meaning goes out of usage and
dictionaries change to reflect this.

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