"Bargaining Chip": Antedating & Mystery

[Fred Shapiro]

On Mon, 12 Aug 2002, Fred Shapiro wrote:

> I don't want to get too snobbish -- I myself have no formal training or
> academic credentials in the field of linguistics -- but I have to ask, why
> is it that with regard to a subject like physics it's widely accepted that
> people without "credentials" are unlikely to contribute anything advancing
> the field, but with regard to etymology it's "snobbish" to disparage the
> assertions of those who operate purely on conjecture?

Actually the point is not credentialed vs. uncredentialed, it's having
respect for the primacy of real evidence vs. not having such respect.
I and Barry and various thoughtful amateurs on this list and off it have
shown that credentials are not necessary to earn a place at the real table
of etymological scholarship.

Fred Shapiro


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Public Services     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
  and Lecturer in Legal Research            Yale University Press,
Yale Law School                             forthcoming
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------