"camera-mounted drone"?

[Joel S. Berson]

Somebody out there understands and agrees with me!

Thanks, W Brewer.  I suspect you couldn't hear mahout-mounted
elephant without being somewhat more jarred than by the drone.

Joel

At 11/25/2013 06:21 PM, W Brewer wrote:
>WB:  <<(platform)-mounted (weapon)>>.  And after pushing Enter, it occurred
>to me that:
>The inner semantic conflict I feel with <camera-mounted drone> is over the
>function of <drone>: It is indeed the platform for the <camera>, so it
>should be (according to military SOP) <<drone-mounted camera>>. But OTOH, a
><drone> is more suitable for the (weapon) slot than a non-lethal (camera);
>therefore <drone> slid into (weapon) function, and <camera> by default gets
>shoved into an inappropriate (platform) slot. Whence my discomfort with
><camera-mounted drone>; but my brain automatically overlays the (for some
>subconscious reason) jarring collocation with the less problematic and more
>familiar <(accoutrement)-equipped (platform)>; hence my brain heard
><<camera-mounted drone>> but interpreted it as <<camera-equipped drone>>.
>For certain Anglophones, then, <X-mounted Y> has become a synonym for
><X-equipped Y>.
>Conclusion:  Civilians tried to use a (sexy) technical military expression
>and screwed it up.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org