An unfortunate experience

[ronbutters at AOL.COM]

Wilson forgets Swift's warning that, FORTUNATEly, words are not things: saying "mirror image" is not the same thing as pointing at a mirror. W does not report the entire conversation, but one infers that no one was confused or misled, only pedantically offended.

Moreover, the pedantic interpretation is not even correct. A mirror image is not the exact opposite of reality, it is the exact same as reality, merely reversed from left to right.

Lighten up, Wilson! Easy does it! At our age, it is cooler to keep the tolerence level up and the blood pressure down. (If only I could follow my own advice.)
------Original Message------
From: Wilson Gray
Sender: ADS-L
To: ADS-L
ReplyTo: ADS-L
Subject: [ADS-L] An unfortunate experience
Sent: May 12, 2010 4:52 AM

Today, I heard a discussion among several people as to whether X was
the_mirror-image_ of Y, in which "mirror-image" was clearly being
understood to mean, "exactly the same as" and *not* "exactly the
opposite of."

To quote a friend, "I've never heard it before and I hope that I never
hear it again!" (He'd been grossed out by the phrease, "gag a
maggot.")
--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org