'word' words

[Laurence Horn]

At 11:50 AM -0400 4/28/08, Doug Harris wrote:
>Actually, _Collie dog_ is heard far less often than is
>_German Shepherd Dog_, but the latter, actually the breed's
>proper name, is used, I imagine, to distinguish it from, say,
>an _English_ or Australian shepherd dog.

I'd have thought "German Shepherd dog" would be used to distinguish
it from the human variety. In fact, there's a commercial currently
airing (for I forget what) starring Tina Fey as a director who is
delivered the wrong (human) kind of German shepherd for a skit when
the order she had put in was for the canine kind.  The point about
"collie dog" is that there's no possible confusion of a similar sort
(a collie non-dog).

LH

>But that distinction
>seem unnecessary, given that one of those is more commonly
>referred to as an _English Sheep Dog_ and the latter is best
>known as the _Australian Shepherd_ (without the dog).
>A website called getpetsonline.com notes that the latter's
>name is misspelled a whole _bunch_ of ways. If you care enough
>to see how, refer to
>http://www.gotpetsonline.com/pictures/gallery/dogs/herding-dogs/australian-s
>hepherds/
>dh
>
>
>
>Or "collie dog", which probably annoys canines for the same reasons.
>
>LH
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org