pleonasms: ink pen

[Dennis R. Preston]

Hasn't someone already mentioned the important differentiating
function of "straight" to "safety" as "regards pins"? Which is not to
say that I agree at all with the "pleonastic" thread going on here.
Much of it sounds dangerously like either prescriptivism (which all
hillbillies deplore) or redundancy (which all natural language is
full of). In short, I doubt the value of the term "pleonasm" for
linguists.

dInIs





>Nothing missed.  That which you call "stick pin" I call "pin". (Oh!  Look at
>the pin I got for donating blood!) and that which you call "straight pin"
>(about 2 inches, small head- with who knows how many angels dancing upon it)
>I call "stick pin" as it sticks something down (like a hem, maybe?).
>
>Point is, for me, "straight pin" IS pleonastic (pleo-nasty?) as they're all
>*straight* (except for maybe thoses wierd things doctors use to sew skin
>with, which I've never actually seen and probably don't fit a "pin" prototype
>very well anyway).
>
>-dsb
>Douglas S. Bigham
>Southern Illinois University - Carbondale