"rally"; "restore honor"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Interesting that "half-mast" has long been the colloquial default form, even
though it literally describes something on shipboard; "half-staff," of
course, literally describes the usual situation. It even rhymes and could be
considered hypothetically more inclusive (because more often seen).



JL


On Mon, Aug 30, 2010 at 9:16 AM, Jim Parish <jparish at siue.edu> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jim Parish <jparish at SIUE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "rally"; "restore honor"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Charles Doyle wrote:
> > And how about "half-mast" vs. "half-staff"?
>
> My apologies: the proclamations do indeed say "half-staff". "Half-mast" was
> my own
> insertion.
>
> Jim Parish
>
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