semantic drift: "armistice"

[Jonathan Lighter]

His doctorate is in English.

JL

On Mon, Sep 7, 2009 at 1:21 AM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: semantic drift: "armistice"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Gary sounds like a rebel-rouser.
>
> -Wilson
>
> On Sun, Sep 6, 2009 at 7:35 PM, Jonathan Lighter<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      semantic drift: "armistice"
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Prof. Gary Scharnhorst's learned introduction to the latest Penguin
> edition
> > of _The Red Badge of Courage_ (sorry I can't give the precise quote)
> asserts
> > without nuance or qualification that Stephen Crane "was not born until
> six
> > years after the armistice."
> >
> > The Civil War, however, did not end with an "armistice," which in the
> normal
> > English formerly employed by scholars means a truce. It ended with the
> > outright surrender of Confederate armies in accordance with peace terms
> > offered by Washington.
> >
> > An armistice has been in effect between North and South Korea since 1953:
> > there has been no peace agreement. World War I ended, in practical terms,
> >  with an "armistice" because the belligerents agreed to forge a peace
> > agreement at their leisure.
> > Which they did, in both senses of the word.
> >
> > JL
> >
> >
> > --
> > "There You Go Again...Using Reason on the Planet of the Duck-Billed
> > Platypus"
> >
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>
> --
> -Wilson
> –––
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-- 
"There You Go Again...Using Reason on the Planet of the Duck-Billed
Platypus"

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