"Avail" = "advantage"?

[Wilson Gray]

Clearly, I ned to get out more! :-)

-Wilson

On 2/28/08, Arnold M. Zwicky <zwicky at csli.stanford.edu> wrote:
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>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>  Poster:       "Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>
>  Subject:      Re: "Avail" = "advantage"?
>  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  On Feb 27, 2008, at 8:35 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>
>  > From Slashdot:
>  >
>  > http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/27/1551206
>  >
>  > "... more UNIX references for those willing and able to _take avail
>  > of_ the UNIX kernel underlying the operating system ..."
>
>  believe it or not, this is an *old* sense -- perhaps the original
>  sense -- of the noun "avail".  the OED lists "avail" 'beneficial
>  effect; advantage, benefit, profit' as archaic or obsolete (except in
>  expressions like "of little/no avail"), with cites from the early 15th
>  century, including one with "take":
>
>  1871 Daily News 24 July, Taking avail of the cover.
>
>  google  pulls up a 1777 "take avail of" in The Reports of Sir Edward
>  Coke.  it also pulls up a respectable number of recent examples, many
>  of them in computer contexts --
>
>    Having multiple swap partitions can be useful if you want to take
>  avail of suspend functionality. I believe that there is a 2GB per swap
>  partition limit so ...
>  www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-general-1/4-distros-4-swap-4-home-623817/
>
>    But what is the minimum time you can choose to pay for, should you
>  wish to take avail of the Wi-Fi link? Well, you have to pay for an
>  hour, obviously.
>  itsneak.itweek.co.uk/2007/04/index.html
>
>  and a number from ethnic varieties (where they might be survivals from
>  earlier english) or non-native speakers --
>
>    Additionally, we plan to create a central system where members can
>  take avail of different resources such as articles, forums, deals,
>  etc. ...
>  indianassociationnetwork.com/faq.php
>
>    Firstly, you must only take avail of the total premium paid to the
>  insurance company up to the time of the accident. The rest of the
>  compensation offered by ...
>  qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view. asp?HD=1&ID=2999&CATE=44
>
>    ... which boasts a temperature of 29° C. Anyone keen to experience
>  it may take avail of goggles, snorkels and flippers, which are provided.
>  www.piketravel.de/kk_umgebung_e.html
>
>  The administration deadly wished to take avail of the win to bail out
>  of the current embarrassment. Before the match, China stood the top in
>  the group with ...
>  www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-10/14/content_382282.htm
>
>  but some seem to be neither:
>
>    You can take avail of their promotional products package and pay a
>  particular amount for them to imprint your logo on these mugs.
>  www.content4reprint.com/business/management/wholesale-promotional-products-technique.htm
>
>    Nashua High South [Nashua NH] is a great place for anyone who wants
>  to take avail of the oppurtunities...
>  www.greatschools.net/modperl/browse_school/nh/346
>
>    Otherwise feel free to take avail of the transportation I'm leaving
>  at Jason's for the duration of my trip.  [29-year-old Australian man]
>  profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?
>  fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=90637692
>
>  there are also some combos of "take avail" and "avail oneself":
>
>  A bonus-ship fly across the screen from time to time. Take avail
>  yourself of the bonuses that it will give you if you manage to hit
>  it. ...
>  www.gamezoneproject.com/a_product. php?product_name=Space
>  %20Invaders&platform=palm
>
>  in any case, "take avail of" doesn't look obsolete.
>
>  arnold
>
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All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
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