The narrowing of vocabulary

[Joel S. Berson]

At 6/26/2010 02:41 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>"Retinal scientist" to Slashdot:
>
>"[T]he pixels are not
>square. Rather, they are rectangular."
>
>Has it become the case that a "square" is no longer considered to be a
>kind of rectangle, whereas a "rectangle" can be only an oblong?

No and yes.

OED rectangle n. 1. A plane figure with four straight sides and four
right angles, opposite sides being parallel and equal in length; esp.
one in which adjacent sides are unequal, as contrasted with a square.

And if I first deny that something is square and then say it rather
is a rectangle, I must mean it has unequal adjacent sides.

Joel

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