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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Is there a <i><span style='font-style:italic'>law</span></i> of
synonyms? I don’t believe in synonyms. No two words are exactly “synonymous”
from the point of view of connotation.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Concerning your example from the computer
domain, let me mention another example, given to me by a computer specialist.
Who speaks of ‘jump drive’ or ‘pen drive’ any more? It’s
probably between ‘flash drive’ and ‘thumb drive’
nowadays. And who knows what will come up next.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>When two or more expressions come up at
about the same time and compete, ‘brevity (punch)’ is one factor
IMO that makes the winner.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Brevity is the soul of wit (Shakespeare,
Hamlet 2, 86-92),<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Fritz Goerling<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Law of Synonyms <br>
There must be a law of synonyms somewhere (of phrasal synomyms <br>
in particular). Dictionaries and thesauruses (thesauri) seem too <br>
arbitrary & random too trust for this purpose. Of course, corpora <br>
listings are easy for words. I've been wondering for years what the <br>
world would gravitate toward -- "laptop" or "notebook" <br>
computer. "Portable computer" seems quaint, but... The reason I'm <br>
fishing in this pond is that I would hate wading through <br>
dissertations or theses looking for synonym principles (must be lazy <br>
or something). The only simple, quick source for finding phrasal <br>
frequency comparisons seems to be google-counting. "Laptop" (computer<br>
(s)) wins on this one, generally by 22%-30%. But we're dealing with <br>
the `phrase' "notebook computer" and "laptop computer." <br>
Googling "notebook" alone skews the results. <br>
Has anyone done, or seen, research about how one term (or <br>
phrase) tends to predominate over others -- when two or more <br>
expressions begin at about the same time? Is is there a phonetic <br>
(e.g. reduplicative, length, ease-of-pronunciati<wbr>on) influence? Is <br>
there a "great-man" influence, according to coiner? First come, first
<br>
served? Regional? Or is it truly unpredicable? <br>
This is an open-ended question.... Any ideas?<br>
<br>
Scott Nelson<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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