FW: Same sound, opposite meaning

[Fred Shapiro]

> >  I don't agree. "Verbal" in the strict and original sense and my usage
> >  includes written and oral language; in sloppyXXXXXX common present use
> >  it refers to oral language only, explicitly opposed to written.

"Verbal" meaning "oral" goes back to 1591 and was used in this sense by
Pepys, Swift, Hume, Scott, and Lincoln.  Not exactly a sloppy recent
usage.

Fred


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------