"Word" words?

[Charles Doyle]

Speaking of spaghetti, one dialect (or, perhaps, idiolect) difference between my Chicago-born-and-reared wife and me is this: For her, SPAGHETTI is a dish of what she calls "spaghetti noodles" after sauce has been poured over the pasta; for me, SPAGHETTI is the pasta itself, over which sauce might (or might not) be poured. I suppose it's a sign of matrimonial durability that I still--after 38 years of marriage--find her usage annoying!

--Charlie
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---- Original message ----
>Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2008 08:58:28 -0500
>
>> Any comments? Is there a katana sword, an ushanka hat, or borscht soup?
>
>It seems to me that these are very common. Isn't that also like appending "pasta" after various Italian pasta name types (e.g. spaghetti pasta)? I would imagine language users do that because the borrowed word isn't transparent like it is in the native language.
>
>Scot

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