Re: my personal wot y

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In a message dated 1/12/06 9:10:45 PM, debaron at UIUC.EDU writes:


> But is transparency not also a factor in 'bookcase,' which merits a
> full entry of its own, complete with definition of the obvious:
> bookcase, a case for books?
>

I don't think that BOOKCASE is as transparent as DOG FOOD -- or ROADSIDE
BOMB. I can imagine several different possibilities for BOOKCASE ('a dust jacket'
'a bookbag'; cf.   TEXTBOOK CASE). Shouldn't a case for books be a
BOOKSCASE--or a BOOKSHELVER? The general rule is, the more transparent the term, the less
need there is to define it.