fellow

[victor steinbok]

Aside from implication of professional camaraderie, "a fellow writer"
indeed is just another expression for "another writer". But these are
not entirely identical. For one, "another writer" carries no temporal
connotation. Also, in a direct address, I would not address someone as
"another writer", but "a fellow writer" is OK, e.g., "Would you share
a drink with a fellow writer?"

As for "shared experience", I've never seen anything in "a fellow X"
usage that would indicate such a need. Would you extend a similar
requirement to "a fellow linguist", "a fellow vet", "a fellow jurist",
"a fellow Democrat"? The noun already restricts the group--I don't
believe, there is any need to restrict it further. But, as I said, my
instinct here is going haywire... so your mileage may vary.

VS-)

On Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 3:11 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> What exactly is a "fellow writer"? Just another way of saying "another
> writer"?
>
> I think I expect a tighter connection between fellows than simply following
> the same line of work. Perhaps even membership in some professional
> organization would satisfy this, but I think there is a need for some shared
> experience.
>
> DanG

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