rectangle vs. square

[Dan Goncharoff]

I disagree with Larry Horn's example. I remember the phrase as, "It's
not *just* a car, it's a Volkswagen." Doesn't help.

DanG

On 6/27/2010 2:55 PM, Garson O'Toole wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society<ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Garson O'Toole<adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: rectangle vs. square
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Mark Mandel wrote
>
>> One disagreement with Garson: example (3) is not relevant. "Square with"
>> refers to relative orientation, not to shape: '(of the room in question)
>> having the sides parallel with the sides of (the sepulchral chamber'.
>>
> Yes, example 3 is flawed. Thank you for pointing that out.
>
> (3 new version) Flats, or Flat Bars. - Rolled bars of iron or steel of
> rectangular but not square sections.
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=DmAwAAAAMAAJ&q=%22not+square%22#v=snippet&
>
> Also, I should have noted Larry Horn's example (one of several):
>
>
>> "It's not sufficient to call that a ___, you can more
>> perspicuously call it a ____"  (as in the old
>> Volkswagen commercial's claim "It's not a car,
>> it's a VW").
>>
> Following this pattern a speaker who believed squares were instances
> of rectangles might still say:
> It's not a rectangle, it's a square.
>
>
>> On Sun, Jun 27, 2010 at 1:27 AM, Garson O'Toole
>> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>
>>> I certainly agree that the issue is complex and context is important.
>>> Consider the following example in the domain of architecture. The
>>> writer assumes that the set of rectangular objects includes squares.
>>> Therefore he or she must explicitly rule out the inclusion of squares.
>>>
>>> [1] ... what Pliny tells us is that the building was rectangular (but
>>> not square), that it was surrounded by a colonnade of thirty-six
>>> columns, ...
>>>
>>> The parenthetical remark "(but not square)" would be redundant if the
>>> speaker thought that the set of rectangles already excluded squares.
>>> Here are another two examples:
>>>
>>> [2] Lumber is used that has rectangular, but not square, cross
>>> section, and is always oriented so that the longer dimension is
>>> parallel to the load (ie, usually is vertical).
>>>
>>> [3] This room was rectangular, but not square with the sepulchral
>>> chamber, as it lay 25=C2=B0 east of north ; =E2=80=A6
>>>
>>>
>>>
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