commenter vs. commentator

[Amy West]

On 6/22/10 12:00 AM, Automatic digest processor wrote:
> Date:    Mon, 21 Jun 2010 16:15:04 +0100
> From:    Judy Prince<jbalizsprince at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Re: commenter vs. commentator
>
> Hi, Amy, thank you for raising this up-to-the-second discussion.
>
> Help me understand your distinction between the two word uses:  " . .
> . the author and editors probably chose to use "commenter" because of the
> difference between posting discrete comments to a number of stories as
> opposed to creating a unified commentary."
>
> Thanks,
>
> Judy

What I have in mind is a series of individual comments on separate news
stories as opposed to a longer unified prose piece commenting on an
event, policy, etc. in order to explain, interpret, etc.

One of the peevers who didn't like "commentator" said it was because she
was older than the term. Well, no, I pointed out to her: the 14th. c.
early uses, and even the modern sense pre-dates her (she was born well
after 1928).

--
---Amy West

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