technical terminology in ordinary language

[Bill Palmer]

those homophones are tricky little devils, n'est-ce pas?

Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: "Victor" <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, May 31, 2009 1:43 PM
Subject: Re: technical terminology in ordinary language


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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Victor <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: technical terminology in ordinary language
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>
> Hmm... Having hung around both lawyers and engineers, I can certainly
> attest to *engineers* using "camshaft" as a rather sarcastic euphemism.
> Don't know about mechanics... As for "dispositive" and "colorable",
> they've been making their way into TV commentaries for some time now.
> Still, I have hardly heard it in "everyday chatter" anywhere outside of
> lawyer groups and academia. I suspect that most people who watch legal
> analysis on FNC are unlikely to adopt these two in there normal usage.
>
>    VS-)
>
> Arnold Zwicky wrote:
>> Lee Beck on Facebook:
>>
>> Heard some lawyers throwing around the words "dispositive" and
>> "colorable" in everyday chatter... Imagining how they would react if a
>> mechanic used the word "camshaft" in a metaphoric way...
>>
>>
>>
>
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