"set the perimeters"

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Dec 20, 2004, at 8:17 AM, Stahlke, Herbert F.W. wrote:

> Another egg-corn?  Google gives 537 hits for "set the perimeters" and
> about 130,000 for "set the parameters".  Among the 537 are some clear
> cases where the egg-corn is used with reference to software setup.  One
> of our secretaries used the phrase this morning.

somewhere i have a slip with a use by maggie reynolds, the executive
secretary of the LSA, in connection with administrative arrangements.

MWDEU has separate entries for "parameter" and "perimeter", with
examples going in both directions (and in some other directions as
well).

arnold