"Common English"

[Lynne Murphy]

Hello,

I'm using the _BBI dictionary of English word combinations_.  It very
helpfully distinguishes British from American English using the
abbreviations BE and AE, but also uses "CE" which is listed in the
abbreviations guide as "Common English".  This seems to mean "in either
British or American English", although it's almost always used in
contrast to AE or BE, and assumed in any entry that's not marked BE or
AE.  Here's an example of its use.

"In CE one can also be a fan of a certain sport--a football fan.  In CE
one can also be a fan of a certain team--a Dodger fan, Manchester United
fan. In BE, however, one would usu. be called a supporter of a team."

My question is:  is the term "common English" common?  I can't find a
definition of it in the front matter of the dictionary, and since the
first place where I saw "CE" was not as nice and explanatory as the
"fan" entry, I spent a lot of time finding examples of CE in order to
deduce that "common" didn't mean "colloquial" or "Commonwealth".

Thanks in advance,
common Lynne

--

M. Lynne Murphy, Assistant Professor in Linguistics
Department of English, Baylor University
PO Box 97404, Waco, TX 76798 USA
Phone:  254-710-6983     Fax:  254-710-3894
http://www.baylor.edu/~M_Lynne_Murphy